Secrets Behind Her Brown Eyes
by Complete-Chaos56
Summary: The War Is Over And the gang is returning back to Hogwarts for their seventh and final year including Draco Malfoy and his whole posse. But along with their return to Hogwarts, comes a whole bunch of lies for Hermione Granger Warning:Cutting
1. Chapter 1

Secrets Behind Her Brown Eyes

_So this is my first fanfiction. I know it's kind of short but please be patient with me. I'm just starting out, so constructive criticism and ideas are welcome. Please and thank you! And I do not own anything from Harry Potter. They all belong to the lovely J.K. Rowling. _

Everything was quiet in the little town, and not one person or thing made a sound. Everyone was asleep, as it was way passed 12 in the morning, all except for one girl. She had pretty curls that went passed her back in a golden brown color and a pretty face that held a certain cheerfulness. But anyone who looked at this girl closely would know that she is broken. Hermione Granger looked out of her window, up at the starry night sky a lonely tear trickling down her cheek. The war had ended and Voldemort had finally been defeated but the girl and everyone who fought lost so much. But there was a secret that Hermione Granger was keeping from her friends and from everyone who loves her. Hermione's mom Diane Granger was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver, and it nearly killed Hermione when she found out.

Michael Granger, Hermione's father didn't take the news lightly. Now every night he goes out to get drunk and he doesn't come home until midnight or even later. He comes home smelling of alcohol and cigarettes always mad. He yells at Hermione every time he comes home and he takes out all of his anger on her. He calls her a freak and says that it's all her fault that her mother died and left him with her. This hurts Hermione deeply and if she ever cried in front of her father he would strike her across the face, or he would throw her up against the wall and kick her. He would yell in her face telling her that that crying is for weak losers and that she just needs to toughen up or he would beat her harder.

She thought about the Weasley's. She knew that Harry was staying over there for now, because the Dursley's were never going back to that house, so Harry had nowhere to stay. Mrs. Weasley had begged Hermione to stay. That after everything that she, Harry and Ron had went through to get the Horcruxes that Mrs. Weasley would feel better if Hermione stood close. But Hermione said that she should go home to spend time with her family. That her parents needed her. But nobody from the Weasley family knew the troubles that went on in the Granger home. Not even Harry knew what was happening to his best friend. And she prayed that as the school year started that her secret would stay that, a secret. She found out a day before that she was going to be head girl, and the thought of having her own common room, minus the head boy, and that she would be able to keep her secret that much more. As long as the head boy wasn't nosy, than she would be okay.

She got up from her sitting spot on her window sill and went to her full length mirror. She lifted up her shirt, exposing the black and blue bruises, covering her stomach sides and back. She moved her hair aside to expose the long scar stretching from her neck to the middle of her back. The pain of losing her mother was suffocating, and the pain of what her father does to her is to overbearing for her to take. Michael Granger didn't take it easy on her tonight. She pulled her shirt down covering her bruises and her scar and she opened her desk drawer. She pulled out a razor, and held it up to the moonlight letting the metal sparkle in the light. She let a couple of tears escape from her eyes, and spill onto her shirt, as she slowly dragged the blade over her forearm, letting the blood trickle down her arm, splattering on her pants. She bit her lip in pain, but promised herself that she wouldn't cry, that she deserved every ounce of pain that she was getting. That night was the first night, that Hermione Granger ever felt worthless. That night was the first night that she ever thought about inflicting pain on herself, and that was the first night that Michael Granger won. Hermione Granger was finally broken, and she didn't think that anyone would be able to put her back together again.


	2. Promises Don't Mean Anything

Chapter 2. Promises Don't Mean Anything.

Hermione Granger looked down at her arm and noticed the thin scar along her forearm.

She bit her lip thinking back as another tear trickled down her cheek, she then pulled down her sleeve

and rifled through her drawers looking for a photograph of her mother, as she looked down on the curly

brunette in the picture, more tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "Mom, you promised you would

never leave me. You promised to always be here for me whenever I needed you. Where are you now

that I need you the most?" She whispered brokenly to the picture of her mother.

She bit back the tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks, biting the inside of her lip.

"Hermione?" Someone whispered from the door.

She looked up at her father, whom she loved even though he hurt her.

She would always love him, no matter what.

"Yes dad?" She whispered not daring to meet his eyes, for fear of what she would see in them.

"I heard you crying. Are you alright?"

She looked up at him in shock, not believing what she was hearing.

Was he really asking her if she was okay? She looked up and finally met his eyes.

She noticed that he didn't have the glazed over look that he usually had when he was drunk.

So she came to the conclusion that he wasn't, but for how long.

"Y-yes daddy. I'm fine. Just tired." She whispered again.

"Okay than honey. I'm going to go out for a bit. Be back later tonight." He said, shutting the door behind him.

She looked back desperately at the picture of her mother, thinking that of course it was too good to be true.

_He's going out to get drunk, or sleep with god knows who._ She thought disdainfully, looking at her reflection in her mirror.

She looked over at the Hogwarts letter that was sitting on her nightstand as she let out a small smile.

She knew who the head boy was as she frowned when she saw his name.

_Draco Malfoy that stupid ferret, does NOT deserve to be head boy. _

But even as she thought this, Hermione knew that she wasn't going to let him ruin her.

I'll finally be away from this awful place, and away from the hurt she suffered.

Later that night as Hermione was sitting in her room she noticed the picture set on her nightstand of her

and her mother.

She jumped with a start as she heard the front door slam.

She knew what was coming and she feared what he would do to her tonight.

"Hermione, do you want to play with daddy?"

His voice sent chills up her spine as her breathing became sharper with fear.

"Now don't look at me like that honey. I love you very much. Do you love daddy?"

She suppressed a shudder at the way his voice sounded, as she felt her dad's hand on her leg.

"No please daddy. Please don't!" She whimpered, a tear trickling down her cheek.

"Shut up you stupid girl!" He then slapped her on the face.

That night, Hermione Granger's innocence was stolen from her. That night, Hermione Granger would never be the same again.

And as the only person she ever trusted ripped her innocence away from her, She looked at the picture of her mother, as another tear proceeded down her cheek.

_Mommy you promised me you would never leave me. _

_And now you have left me with the one person who promised he would never hurt me._

_But now, promises don't me anything to me. _

_I vow not, that I will never trust anyone again, promises don't mean anything to me, anymore._


	3. Lonely Thoughts

Lonely Thoughts

_A/n Sooooo. I'm trying to make my chapters longer. This one took a while to write, because I wasn't exactly sure if I wanted that much confrontation. Just bear with me, that I'm still a little new at this.. So I promise it will get better. __ I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, even if I wish I did. It all belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling._

Hermione woke up on the day that it was time to go back to Hogwarts, she thought back to the last couple of weeks and how her life had changed so much.

She looked down at her wrists and noticed several more scars going up and down both of her arms, with a saddened sigh. She just wanted it all to end. After that first night that her dad came and ripped all of her innocence from her, he visited her frequently at night, not even giving her a chance to cry.

She was lucky if she got a few moments alone to herself before her dad came home to hurt and beat into her that she needed to be strong. She got up gingerly from her bed, seeing as her body was sore from the night before and walked over to her trunk, that was packed with school supplies and clothes, and other books that she wanted to take.

She pulled out a long sleeve shirt that was green and silver. And a pair of black skinny jeans with black flats. She walked over to the mirror and looked at herself before deciding that she looked at least semi decent. She then proceeded to take her wand out of her pocket and she cast a straightening charm on her hair, making it fall loosely to her back.

Fifteen minutes later Hermione was ready to leave the house in hopes that her father was still asleep. She crept over to the door turning the door knob when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She flinched when the hand clamped on her shoulder, gripping one of her many bruises. She slowly turned around to face her dad, who had a deranged look in his eyes.

"D-daddy." She stuttered looking up into her father's black eyes.

"Now now Hermione, I know you didn't think about leaving without telling me goodbye did you?" Michael Granger asked leaning down to give his daughter a hug.

As he kissed her neck he whispered in her ear. "Don't tell anyone about this you little bitch, or I promise you that it will be the last thing you do." Before he let her go, he gave her one more squeeze, inflicting more pain on her, before he let her go. "Don't do anything Hermione Jane. I'll be in your head for the rest of the year."

Giving his daughter one last deranged look, Michael Granger walked out of the room and upstairs to his room.

Hermione let out a muffled sob, and walked out of her house to the apparition point, making sure that none of the muggles saw her, as she apparated out of there to King's Cross Station.

Draco's pov….

Draco Malfoy walked onto platform 9 ¾ thinking about how is summer went. He had a tough summer what with the war ending and his father in Azkaban. His mother told him that blood didn't matter and that he should treat everyone equally. He told her that he would try, but old habits die hard. He walked onto the train, in search of his best friend Blaise Zabini, and found him inside one of the compartments by himself waiting for Draco. Blaise looked up upon hearing the door open and smirked as he saw his best friend. "Hey Draco. Had a good summer?"

"Blaise you know as well as I do, that you had about as bad a summer as I did." Draco said as he sat down on the seat.

"So I heard that you got head boy Draco. Are you quite happy with that outcome, especially when you know that a certain brunette is going to be head girl?" Blaise asked again, giving Draco another smirk.

"Yes Blaise. I know that that stupid mudblood is going to be head girl and I could care less." Draco said with a small scowl.

"Now Draco, you know that all of that rubbish isn't real. Blood doesn't matter to you just like it doesn't matter to me." Draco shrugged his shoulders, knowing that what Blaise said was true, but he wasn't going to tell him, for fear of Blaise getting a bigger head.

"Yeah yeah. Well I'm off to the head compartment. Have to meet McGonagall." Draco got up and left the compartment, in search of the head compartment.

Hermione's pov…

Hermione walked onto the train, not looking for her friends, because she didn't want the lies to come sooner than they were supposed to. She quickly made her way to the head compartment looking in, making sure that Malfoy wasn't in there yet.

She shut the door and sat on the cushions, pulling her knees up to her chest looking out the window. The pain of her summer was suffocating, that she was starting to get a headache. She rested her head on her knees unaware of the pair of silver eyes that were watching her from the door.

She looked up when she heard the door snap open, and her brown eyes met a pair of striking silver eyes.

"Mudblood." Draco admonished.

"Ferret." She said in the same monotonous voice that she used all summer towards her dad.

Draco noticed the change in her voice but decided not to say anything. He thought that she looked skinnier, and when he had looked into her eyes, he noticed that they almost looked dead. _Yes. Something is definitely off with Granger, and I'm determined to figure out what it is. _

Hermione decided to ignore the boy in the compartment with her. She looked out of the window and seen the mass of red hair, all of the Weasley boys were there including Bill and Charley to see their youngest brother and sister off, and she also noticed the jet black hair of her best friend Harry Potter.

She let out a little squeak and hid her face from view just in case Harry and Ron decided to look her way.

Her action didn't go unnoticed by Draco and he looked at this girl with a scrutinizing gaze.

"What's wrong with you Granger?" He asked with a little bit of a sneer in his voice.

"None of your damn business you stupid ferret!" She snapped back at him as she brought her knees back up to her chest. She put her head down again, letting her eyes close against their will for some much needed sleep.

Knowing that if she let herself get too comfortable with sleeping the nightmares and the screams from her summer would haunt her for as long as she had her eyes closed.


	4. Blank Stares

Blank Stares

_A/N: Soo… I've decided that I'm still going to continue this, even if I don't get reviews, because I need something to practice my writing on. But if you do happen to read my story, please leave a review and tell me what you think, because I could really use the constructive criticism. Thank you. :CC:_

Hermione was jerked awake from her sleep when she felt someone shaking her awake. She slowly opened her eyes, as they came into contact with striking silver eyes, as she jerked back away from his hands.

"What the hell do you want Malfoy?" She said with a little bit of an edge to her voice.

"Well you stupid mudblood, I just wanted to tell you that we have 5 minutes until we get to Hogwarts and that you should put your robe on!" He practically yelled at her and that took her by surprise because she didn't know why he got so worked up over it. Unbeknownst to her, that Draco had watched her the whole way to Hogwarts.

_I wonder why she was whimpering in her sleep, but she kept saying 'stop' Ugh! Why the hell do I even care, it's Granger for crying out loud! _He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Hermione stand up, and he looked at her warily.

"Um.. Thanks Malfoy, for waking me up." She said. And with that, she quickly grabbed her robes and ran out of the compartment.

Now her saying thank you took Draco by surprise, he never expected it from someone like Her-Granger.

_Now what the hell is wrong with me? Almost calling the mudblood by her first name? I must be losing it._

The train stopped so he knew that they were at Hogwarts, and with one last look in the direction of the girl with the black eyes, he walked off the train and into one of the carriages with his friend Blaise and the annoying girl that would not leave him alone.

Hermione had finally changed into her robes, and looked into the mirror to make sure that none of her scars and marks were showing, as she put on her fake smile and walked off the train, preparing to unload all of her lies.

She looked around when she heard people calling her name, and she heard the source of where it came from.

"Hermione! Hermione over here!" Harry and Ron were waving frantically towards her as she slowly made her way toward them.

"H-hi guys." She said with a small stutter hoping they didn't notice.

She didn't see the little redhead that was running at her and winced in pain when she threw her arms around Hermione's waist.

"Mione I missed you soooo much! You can't even imagine!" Ginny started babbling and lucky for Hermione that no one noticed her wince. "So Mione how was your summer?" Ginny asked looking at Hermione with a smile. "Anything fun happen?"

"Hm. Not really Gin. You know. Just stayed at home with my dad. Nothing special. Keeping him company. That's all." She gave a small smile again, and looked up as it started to rain. She grimaced noting that the sky reflected her feelings and gave a tiny nod toward the carriages.

"We better get into one of the carriages, before they leave without us." She said and got into one waiting for them.

She was silent throughout the hole ride to Hogwarts, her friends not seeming to notice her.

They reached Hogwarts, and they all climbed out of the carriages and into the warm castle, and took a seat at the Gryffindor table. Hermione was listening to all of the conversations but she wasn't really paying attention, and then Professor Dumbledore stood up to make his announcements.

Draco was sitting at the Slytherin table not paying attention to what his friends were saying when he felt a hand on his leg.

He growled low in his throat and looked at Pansy with a menacing glare.

"Pansy, get your fucking hand off of my leg." He said in a low whisper.

"Aww. But why Drakie. I thought that you would like it. You used to like it last year when we had so much fun." Pansy whispered, in his ear in what she thought was a seductive voice.

"Well you were just a one night thing. Nothing more. So leave me the hell alone!" He said, in a louder voice. Pansy was about to reply, when she was shoved aside by Blaise who took his seat next to Draco.

"Blaise what the hell was that?" Pansy said, almost screeching, catching the eyes of almost all of the Slytherin table.

"So sorry Pansy." He said with mock sincerity, but you were annoying the hell out of me and I know that you were annoying the hell out of Draco, so I decided to come and rescue him from the likes of you!" Blaise said with annoyance in his voice.

Pansy was about to retort when the headmaster stood up to make his announcements, about halfway through he announced Draco and Hermione as Head Boy and Girl, and Draco stood up, while everyone clapped. But he looked toward the Gryffindor table and noticed that Granger hadn't stood up yet. He noticed that her friends had to tell her, and she looked up with a sheepish look on her face, the most emotion that Draco had seen her show.

He looked toward her with wonder, as Dumbledore announced that it was time to eat and food appeared in front of them.

"Hm.. I wonder what's up with Granger." Blaise said from next to Draco, as the latter looked up towards the Gryffindor table, and noticed that the curly brunette wasn't eating, but was pushing her food around on her plate.

"She looks awfully skinny too." Draco commented, looking down and taking a bite of his food.

Blaise looked up with a concerned looked and said, "Yeah. Do you think we should find out if she's okay?"

"Nah. It's just stupid Granger. Why the hell should we even bother." Draco said.

Once the feast was over, Draco made his way to the headmaster, and they both waited up for Hermione to finish with her friends.

Dinner for Hermione was hell. She couldn't eat and she couldn't think, she just wanted dinner to be over. She breathed a sigh of relief when Dumbledore announced dinner to end.

She quickly got up on her feet and said goodbye to her friends.

"Now Mione are you sure that you'll be alright with ferret? If he gives you any trouble we'll hurt him." Said Ron with a grin.

"I know you will Ron, but I'll be fine honestly." She said with a little to no emotion in her voice. Luckily her friends didn't notice and she gave them a hug, slightly wincing.

She walked away and up to the headmaster.

"It's about time mudblood! You took your sweet time getting here." Draco said, slightly annoyed.

"Shut up ferret." She said, with a slight glare towards the boy.

Dumbledore looked at them with a twinkle in his eye and said, "Now Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger, as heads, I expect you two to get along, or else you will be stripped of your head badges, no buts are allowed Ms. Granger." He said, as the young girl was about to open her mouth and retort.

They walked in silence towards the head commons, both students thinking about their summer, but unbeknownst to the brunette, the boy with the silver eyes thoughts were drifting towards her.

"Now here is your head commons, the password is 'Unity' I shall see you both tomorrow. Have a good night."

Dumbledore left them, and Draco said the password as they both entered. Hermione looked up and let out a slight gasp noting how beautiful the room looked. There was a gigantic library and a kitchen with a living room and a fireplace. The living room was green and gold, the two colors contrasting perfectly.

"Meh. It's not that bad. My room at the manor is better than this, but it will do for now." Draco said with a smug look towards Hermione. "But of course this must look like a palace compared to the dump that you live in. Am I right Granger?" Draco said looking towards her.

Hermione just looked at him with a blank stare and started walking towards her room. "Goodnight Malfoy." She said in a monotonous voice. She walked up the stairs and into her room. The last thought before she drifted off to sleep was _This is going to be a long year. _And with that thought, she let her eyes close, and fell into a fitful slumber.


	5. Nightmares

Nightmares

**A/N: So thanks to you who reviewed. It really did mean a lot to me. So here's another chapter, and I hope you like this one just as much. The song towards the end of this chapter is called "The Way She Feels" by Between The Trees. It's a really good song if you haven't heard it. I suggest you listen to it. **

_She was sitting home alone in a corner of her room shaking. She knew that it was a matter of time before he came home and she was terrified. She looked up when she heard the door slam and knew that he was home and drunk by the way he was walking up the stairs. _

_She was terrified beyond belief and she didn't know what to do. She didn't want to be hurt, but knew that it was inevitable because when he was drunk, he always found her. _

_She bit her lip and looked up when her bedroom door opened, and knew that he saw her by the grin on his face. _

"_Hi baby. I just came to have fun with daddy's little girl. Do you want to have fun with daddy?" He asked as he walked to pick her up. _

_She started thrashing in his arms screaming at him to stop. "No, no! Please daddy. Don't hurt me, please stop!" She screamed, as he climbed on top of her….._

Draco's pov…..

Draco woke up to the sounds of something muffled. He was a very light sleeper so he woke up to the smallest of sounds. He quickly got out of bed, and walked slowly out of his room. He looked for the source of the noise, and realized that it was coming from Granger's room. He heard the noise get louder, and realized with shock, that she was screaming.

He got his wand and said the unlocking spell, and her door opened with a click. He ran inside her room, to see her thrashing around on her bed, and he ran to her side, putting his hands on either side of her he tried to shake her awake.

"Granger! Granger come on, wake up!" He kept shaking her trying to wake her up, but nothing was working.

He stopped to look at her, noting that she was muttering while shaking. "No, No please don't! Don't hurt me! I'm sorry! I'll be good!"

Draco recoiled with shock as he heard the words come out of her mouth, and he resumed his shaking calling out to the obviously fragile girl to try and wake her from her nightmare.

"Granger please wake up! You're fine here! Come on Granger wake up!" When Draco noticed that that didn't work he opted for the second option.

"Hermione! Please wake up Hermione, you're safe here. Nothing is going to hurt you here, please wake up." He said still shaking her from her slumber. He jumped back a little bit, when she suddenly sat up, crying her eyes out and shaking.

Draco didn't know what to do, so he just held on to the shaking girl next to him, trying to calm her down. Now he was sure that there was something wrong with this brunette, but he didn't know what. _And I am determined to figure out what is wrong with Granger. _A voice in the back of his head said.

He blinked in shock when he realized that he was thinking that, and didn't know what to think about that.

_But what the hell do I even care! It's Granger for crying out loud! Stupid know-it-all mudblood Granger! _

But another voice in the back of his mind, was saying something completely different.

_But I don't care about that stuff anymore. The war is over, Voldemort is gone. My dad is in Azkaban. What else do I want? And then there's this girl, who is beautiful, smart, funny. But that is NEVER leaving my mind. _

He snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed the girl next to him was speaking.

"What did you just say Granger? I wasn't listening." Thinking that she was going to say something mean, he had a retort ready on his lips, just in case. But what she said next, shocked Draco into next year.

"Thank you Malfoy." She whispered. She said it so quietly but he still heard it.

He didn't say anything, but got up and made his way to the door. "This doesn't leave this common room Granger. You got that?" He said, and as he walked out the door, he didn't see her nod her head.

Hermione's pov….

She kept thrashing around in her sleep, knowing that her nightmare was just starting. "No, no please don't! I'm sorry, I'll be good!" She felt someone's hands on her calling out to her, but she thought that it was her dad's.

She kept trying to get out of his grip, when suddenly her dream ended, and she jerked awake, looking into the silver eyes of Draco Malfoy.

She kept shaking, trying so hard not to break down in front of him, because she knew that she would never live it down.

The nightmares had happened for some time, ever since he first visited her in her room, and they wouldn't leave her alone. When he said that he would be in her head all year, she didn't believe him, but now she knew that he wasn't lying.

_Malfoy just helped me. Should I tell him thank you? Or yell at him, and tell him to get out of my damn room? Well if I yelled at him, than me and him would just find more reasons to argue. Hm… He looks kind of cute while he's thinking. Gah! Where the hell did that come from! It's Malfoy! I can't be thinking that about him! I'm just going to stop now._

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the arrogant boy sitting next to her, his arms wrapped around her, in a comforting gesture. She couldn't think straight with his arms around her like that. She knew that he wasn't going to say anything first, so she decided to speak first.

"Um.. Malfoy?" She whispered. She looked up and noticed that he wasn't listening, so she spoke a little louder.

"Malfoy?" She asked a second time, and this time, he jerked his head around to face her, looking into her dark eyes.

Noticing that he still wasn't going to speak, she pulled the words out of her mouth.

"Thank you." She whispered quietly, looking down at her lap. He didn't say anything, but pulled his arms away. He got up and started walking toward the door, and she just looked at him, not knowing what to say otherwise. He stopped and she heard him say, "This doesn't leave this common room Granger. You got that?" And he walked away without another word. He didn't see her nod her head as he walked back to his room and shut his door.

Hermione flopped back down on her bed, and sighed, looking up at her ceiling. She bit her lip, the thoughts of that nightmare returning, keeping her awake.

_Now I'm never going to go back to sleep. _She thought. She got up and had an enchanted radio and she put on a song and started to sing with softly with it.

**She's upset  
Bad day  
Heads for the dresser drawer to  
Drive her pain away  
Nothing good can come of this.  
She opens it there's nothing  
There is only left over tears  
Mom and dad had no right she screams  
As the anger runs down both of her cheeks.**

Then she closed her eyes  
And found relief in a knife  
The blood flows she cries

All alone the way she feels  
Left alone to deal with all the pain-drenched sorrow relief  
Bite the lip, just forget the bleeding

Then she closed her eyes  
And found relief in a knife  
The blood flows she cries

Curled up she's on the floor  
Relief left her she had hoped for something more  
From it (hoped for something more)  
From it  
He leans down to comfort her  
She is weeping and He  
Wraps His arms around  
And around and around and...  
The deeper you cut  
The deeper I hurt  
The deeper you cut  
It only gets worse

Now she's slowly opening...  
New eyes...

Then she opened her eyes  
And found relief through His life  
And put down her knives

Then she opened her life  
And found relief through His eyes  
And put down  
She put down her life

When that song finished on the radio, she laid her head down on her pillow, and let her eyes, slowly fall shut. Her last thoughts, were on the boy with the silver colored eyes, and with that she fell into another slumber, this one being more peaceful than the last.


	6. Falling

Falling

**A/N: So I'm really happy for those of you that reviewed. And I liked it a lot. So thank you. I hope you took the time to listen to that song because it is absolutely amazing. Anyways, I decided to write another Chapter because I won't have time when school starts again, and then I'll have work, school, and Homework. The song is called "Tourniquet" and it's by the amazing Evanescence. Okay.. I'm going to stop rambling now and get on with the story. **

Hermione was breaking. And she was breaking fast. She knew that no one noticed the change that she was going through, and for that she was thankful. She sat alone at the Gryffindor table, waiting for her friends to come down and sit with her, knowing that they were probably just getting up.

She wasn't feeling particularly hungry, just like every other day. She pushed her food around on her plate, not bothering to take a bite out of it, she just wanted to leave. She wanted the life that she used to have.

A life where her mom was still alive, and her dad, the guy that she used to love with all her heart. She just wanted her life back, but she knew that it wasn't going to happen.

She heard people that sounded just like her friends, and looked up to see Harry and Ron sitting across from her and Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas sit on either side of her.

"Hey Mione! How was your first night in the Head Common room? The ferret wasn't giving you too much trouble was he?" Asked Harry with a slight grin.

Hermione put on a fake giant smile and gave what she thought was a convincing laugh. "Oh Harry you worry too much. It was fine. Malfoy was no trouble at all, it went great and the head dorms are amazing!" She said, flashing him another smile.

On the inside she wanted to gag because of all the lies that she was telling her best friends. She never knew how suffocating all of her lies would get, but she was slowly drowning in them, and she didn't know how to get back.

She looked down and her full plate of food and continued pushing her food around on her plate, ignoring all of her friend's endless chatter.

_Don't they care that their supposedly best friend is breaking. Don't they care about me at all that they don't even notice when I need them the most? But maybe I don't want to tell them. Because if they noticed than I'm going to have to spill all of my secrets about my terrible summer. And I really don't want that. But I don't know what to do! It's suffocating me!_

Hermione got up from the table and put on another smile for her friends. "Hey guys, I'm not feeling too well. I'm going to go lay down in my room. I'll talk to you later okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure Mione talk to you later." Ginny said, not even bothering to look up from her conversation with the boys.

Hermione quickly walked out of the Great Hall trying not to let a tear slip down her face as she quickly walked up the stairs. _What's the point? No one will notice anyway. And if they do, than they wouldn't care. _

But little did she know, that a pair of silver eyes followed her out of the Great Hall, watching her retreating figure wondering how to get the broken girl to open up to her.

Draco's pov…..

Draco had been watching her all breakfast. He didn't know what to think about Granger and her eating habits. He had watched her slowly deteriorating before his eyes, and he didn't know what to do to stop it.

He felt someone sit down beside him, breaking him out of his reverie. He looked over into the face of his best friend, who had a slight frown on his face. "Granger looks awfully skinny, don't you think Draco?"

The boy asked with another frown on his face.

"Yeah. She does look really skinny. But I don't know how I'm ever going to get her to open up to me. We've been enemies sinc_e _first year. It's not like she'll be willing to talk about her problems to someone she's hated for half of her life." Draco said with an odd look in his eyes.

Blaise sighed and looked toward the Gryffindor table toward the curly brunette, and then looked at Draco.

"You're starting to like her aren't you Draco?" He asked curiously, looking at the blonde.

"What? No Blaise, you've got it wrong! I don't like Granger. I've told you before, she's just a stupid mudblood to me."

Blaise looked at him with something close to wonder. "Whatever you say." He said, and resumed eating his food.

But something was stirring in the back of Draco's mind. _I don't like Granger. I just want to help her. _

Another voice in his head joined in and the blondes eyes widened. _But if you didn't like her than you wouldn't want to help her. _

He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts as he saw the object of his thoughts stand up and say something to her friends.

It was then that hetruly noticed how thin and fragile she looked. He watched as her face fell, when none of her friends looked up at her, and his eyes continued to follow her until she walked out the door.

He was going to get up to follow her, but he thought that it might look odd, so he stood where he was and continued eating his breakfast while continuing to talk to Blaise. All the while, thoughts of Hermione Granger never leaving his mind.

Hermione's pov….

Hermione walked upstairs and into her room. She quickly shut and locked her door, and then went to the bathroom to shut and lock that door also, making sure that nobody got in. She then slid down the door, as sobs overcame her body.

She cried for everything that she lost.

Her mother.

Her father. Even though he was technically there, she decided that she lost him the day her mother died.

Her friends. She felt like she didn't have them anymore. They didn't even care.

And most of all, she cried for her loss of innocence. Her father ripped that away from her, just like he had taken her childhood away from her. And she was never going to get it back.

Tired of crying she got up and walked over to her nightstand, and turned on her enchanted radio, to a song that would end her life. Out of her nightstand she pulled out her razor, that had been her comfort all summer.

She bit her lip as she ran the blade down her scar covered arm, and watched her blood spill down her arm.

_I'm nothing but a filthy mudblood. A worthless daughter, a know-it-all friend, ugly. I'm nothing, and I hate it! I just want this to end. _

She laid on her bed, and watched as her blood stained the sheets. She closed her eyes, feeling the pain that was numbing her whole arm and body. She bit her lip as tears ran down her face, as she listened to the song that would slowly be the last she ever heard.

I tried to kill the pain  
But only brought more)  
I lay dying  
And I'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal  
I'm dying, praying, bleeding and screaming  
Am I too lost  
To be saved?  
Am I too lost?

She breathed in and out of her nose, hoping that Malfoy wouldn't be back till later, not that he'd care if she offed herself.

My God, my tourniquet  
Return to me salvation  
My God, my tourniquet  
Return to me salvation

She closed her eyes knowing that she would be with her momma again.

Draco's pov…..

After breakfast, Draco decided he would go up to the common room to see if Granger was alright.

He walked in and heard music coming from her room. It sounded really sad, so he went up to her door and knocked. "Hey Granger, I know you're in there. Open the door I want to talk to you."

He knocked again but there was no answer. "Hm… I wonder why she's not answering."

He stood at the door listening to the music again, and his heart tried to reach out to the girl on the other side.

Do you remember me?  
Lost for so long  
Will you be on the other side?  
Or will you forget me?  
I'm dying, praying, bleeding, and screaming  
Am I too lost  
To be saved?  
Am I too lost?

He decided to just walk into her room but when he turned the handle, the door was locked. He walked around to the bathroom and tried the door from inside there also. It was also locked.

"Granger please let me in. I really want to talk to you." He heard a little whimper from inside of her room, and he started to get really worried, and he kept pulling on the handle to try and open the door again.

My God, my tourniquet  
Return to me salvation  
My God, my tourniquet  
Return to me salvation

He finally remember about his wand and he pulled it out, and said the unlocking charm. When he walked into her room, he wasn't expecting so see her in a pool of her own blood on her bed and all over her.

I want to die

He quickly ran to her side, and shook her, not caring if he got her blood on his hands not caring about anything. Just wanting to keep her alive, and praying that he didn't lose her. He didn't care where that thought came from he just wanted to protect her and keep her safe.

My God, my tourniquet  
Return to me salvation  
My God, my tourniquet  
Return to me salvation

"Hermione, Hermione please wake up! Please wake up! You can't leave like this you can't!" He kept shaking her and then realized it was useless.

My wounds cry for the grave  
My soul cries for deliverance  
Will I be denied?  
Christ? (Christ)  
Tourniquet  
My suicide

As the echoing of the song finally died out, he scooped up the bleeding girl in his arms, and ran quickly out the door, and towards the hospital wing.

He prayed to god that he would get her there, and that everything would be all right.

Draco Malfoy's world was slowly falling apart, and he didn't even know what to do about it.

And his last thoughts as he ran to the hospital wing carrying the bleeding girl were, _please don't take her away from me. Hermione please, please be all right. You don't even know how much I need you. _


	7. Awakenings

Awakenings

As Draco ran towards the hospital wing, he noticed that nobody was around, and for that he was thankful. He didn't know what he would do if he ran into any of her friends, or any of his friends for that matter.

He finally reached the wing and pushed its double doors open. "Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey come quick! I need your help!" He shouted frantically, looking for the medi. Witch.

She came bustling out of the doors without looking up. "What is it Mr. Malfoy? Can't you see that I'm…"

Her sentence died off on her lips as she took one look at the witch in his arms. "Oh my goodness! Put her on the bed here Mr. Malfoy." She exclaimed, and waited for him to put the bleeding girl on the bed.

She started muttering and moving her wand up and down Hermione's body, trying to stop the bleeding from doing further damage. "Mr. Malfoy, please tell me what happened to Ms. Granger." She asked in a sad voice, looking down at the bloody girl.

"I-I don't know Madam." He said, in a small voice.

"She left breakfast early this morning, and she looked quite sad. I meant to follow her, but I didn't because I didn't think that anything was wrong, I was clearly mistaken."

Madam Pomfrey looked down at the sad looking boy, and patted him on the shoulder. "Ms. Granger should be alright Mr. Malfoy, she did lose a lot of blood, but not that rest, and potions can't fix."

Draco's head shot up upon hearing the older lady's words. "What makes you think that I care about Granger?" He asked in an affronted voice.

"Because I certainly do not. I just don't want to have to take on head duties by myself!" He exclaimed looking up at her with a scowl on her face.

"You don't have to pretend with me Mr. Malfoy." She said in a gentle sounding voice.

"Whatever Madam Pomfrey. " He stated while looking back at the slightly clean girl.

He still couldn't get the worry out of his head for this fragile girl, and he would be damned if he ever let something like this happen again.

Draco Malfoy made a vow that day, a vow to find out what exactly was wrong with Hermione Granger. Even if it killed him.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHG….

_Hermione felt like she was floating. She didn't know what that feeling was, but she thought that it was less suffocating that the real world. _

_Her eyes were still closed, and she dared herself to open them. _

_When she finally opened her eyes she gasped at what she saw. _

_She was back home, back with her father, and to her surprise, her mother. "M-mom?" She asked in a timid whisper, not believing her eyes. _

_Her breath caught in her throat as she saw her mother look up and smile at her. "Hello Hermione darling. Why are you standing there, looking like you can't believe your eyes?" Her mother asked, as she lightly chuckled at the stare her daughter was giving her. _

"_Y-You're alive?" She asked her mom, shocked at what she was seeing. _

"_Of course I'm alive dear! I didn't die!" She said, as she gave a strained laugh. _

_Hermione let a tear fall down her cheek as she ran at her mother and gave her a hug. _

_The young girl didn't notice that her mother slowly started changing._

_Her mom gripped her in the back of the head and leaned in close to whisper in her daughter's ear. "You killed me Hermione Jean. All because you were a freak! You killed me and I'm never coming back!" _

_Her mother screeched the last part at her and Hermione gave a little cry of fright and leapt back. The sight that she saw, made her want to throw up._

_Her once beautiful mother, was covered in blood. Her face was contorted in rage, looking at Hermione like she wanted to kill her. _

_And that's when Hermione's dad came into the kitchen looking at his bleeding wife._

"_What the hell did you do you stupid bitch!" He screamed at Hermione as he ran towards her._

"_What the fuck did you do to your mother? You killed her didn't you? Didn't you? All because you're a stupid little freak!" _

_She had never heard her dad sounding so mad and demented. She gave a cry of pain, as he wrapped his hands around her neck._

"_I'll kill you just like you killed her! Do you hear me?" He yelled gripping her tighter._

"_N-No please! Please daddy! I didn't do anything, please!" She gasped in pain, as his hand tightened around her throat, cutting of her air supply. _

_She felt herself being shoved backwards, and her head hit the coffee table. She felt the warmness of her blood trickle down her head, as she felt the sharp blows to her side, delivered by her father. _

"_Please daddy! I didn't kill her I swear I didn't kill her!" She screamed in pain, as she felt her world slowly starting to blacken again, cutting her off from everything. She felt the blows he delivered to her head, as she felt more and more blood slide down her arms and head and body. She didn't know how she got covered in blood, all she knew was that her life was slowly coming to an end. _

_With one last look up at the daddy that she lost, Hermione Grangers world went black once more. _

DMDMDMDMD…..

Draco looked up when he heard a whimper coming from the bed of the sleeping Gryffindor.

Hermione was thrashing around in her bed muttering something. The only words that he could make out were 'please don't daddy,' and 'I didn't do anything please.' Her thrashing became more violent, and he grabbed a hold of her armtrying to calm her mumbling that now turned to screaming. Panicking, he called out to the nurse.

"Madam Pomfrey come quick! It's Hermione, something's wrong!" He yelled, hoping that she would hear him.

He let out a relieved sigh as he saw the witch come out of the room, her face looking quite grim.

"Alright Mr. Malfoy, I'm going to need you to hold Ms. Granger still, while I administer her this potion. Don't worry, it's just to put her into a calm sleep." She added, as the boy's face was etched with worry.

She saw him visibly relax, and try to hold onto the screaming and crying girl.

"Please Hermione stop moving." He pleaded with her, as he grabbed both of her arms, trying to keep her still.

He finally got her arms down, and the nurse administered the potion in her mouth.

Hermione was finally stilled into another sleep, and Draco continued to stare at her.

As she was thrashing around, he noticed that her shirt had rode up a little bit, and he noticed a good number of bruises that marred her perfectly smooth skin.

He bit his lip, and noticed the purple and black standing out against her perfect creamy skin.

How had she got those? And why was she going to great lengths to hide them.

He looked up as he noticed the doors to the hospital wing open. His eyes went wide as he saw Blaise walk in with a bruised knuckle.

"Draco? What are you doing here?" He asked. But before he could answer, the other boy's eyes found to girl on the bed, and he gasped.

"W-what happened to her?" Blaise asked, his eyes going wide, as he took in her bloody state.

Draco looked at her sadly and then back at Blaise.

"She tried to kill herself. Remember at breakfast this morning how she looked sad?" He asked and waited for Blaise to nod.

"W-well… You know how I was going to follow her?" He waited for the other boy to nod again, and continued.

"Well I went to the room after, and knocked on her door. She was listening to this really sad song talking about suicide and how she wanted to die. And by the time I got in there… She was laying on her bed, barely breathing and covered in blood." He finished with a sad whisper, looking at the Italian boy with big sad eyes.

Blaise's eyes got wide as Draco finished the story. "W-why do you think she wanted to kill herself?" He asked with a whisper, looking back at the obviously broken girl.

"I have no idea mate, but I intend to find out." Draco said and looked at her one last time.

"I'm staying with you mate. Granger may not know it, buy I consider her like a little sister to me." Blaise said, looking at her with a sad smile.

Draco looked at him with a curious gaze. "Would you care to elaborate on that mate?" He asked the other boy with big eyes.

"Well last year, me and Hermione spent some time together in the library. She helped me with some homework that I needed help on. And me and her decided to keep our friendship a secret. She'd tell me what was bothering her when she was sad, and vice versa. But because of the war, we obviously couldn't go around flaunting our friendship.

So I considered her like a little sister. But then this year rolled around, and I haven't had time to talk to her. I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't make it." Draco looked up at the end of Blaise's speech, and was astonished to see a tear falling from the other boys face.

Draco got up and walked over to Blaise and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry mate. She'll make it. Granger's a strong one. She will wake up, and when she does, we won't let her out of our sight.

The other boy nodded and thought one last thought about the sleeping girl.

_Please Hermione. Wake up. Me and Draco need you to be alive. You mean so much to me, and although he won't admit it… You mean something to Draco also._

_A/N: So I haven't written in a while, I've been busy with work and school. But here's another chapter. I like Blaise, so I decided to have a history between him and Hermione. So yeah. Review. All belongs to J. K. Rowling. _


	8. Another Awakening

Another Awakening?

_A/N: So here's another chapter. I know it's been quite a while, but I've been busy busy busy. So review please. _

Hermione felt like she was on cloud nine. She was in a white room with nothing on the walls. She heard a noise and when she looked up she saw her mom.

She backed up and looked at her mom with wide eyes thinking that it was another trick.

"M-mom?" She asked in a timid whisper.

"Yes darling. I know that nightmare you had scared you. So I decided to bring you here, before I sent you back."

"What do you mean back? I don't want to go back. I want to stay here with you." Hermione said, with slight tears in her eyes.

"Oh Hermione. You can't stay here darling. You have to go back. All of your friends need you." Mrs. Granger looked at Hermione with sad eyes.

"What friends. None of my friends care. They don't even know that I'm in the hospital wing!" Hermione slid down one of the white walls while staring at her mother. Mrs. Granger kneeled down in front of Hermione and lifted her chin up to look at her. "Oh baby.. They may not realize it yet. They don't even know you're in there. But there's two boys who do care about you."

Hermione's head snapped up at that and she looked up at her mom with big eyes. "Two boys? Which two boys?"

"I believe there name's go by Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini. Do they ring a bell to you?"

Hermione let out a small smile at the mention of Blaise. "Yes. Me and Blaise got rather close last year while the war was going on."

"Darling, I know your father has done some bad things, and I know you won't ever forgive him, I'm not asking you to. But don't shut the people who care about you out of your life." She looked down and then looked at her daughter with a sad small smile playing on her lips. "It's time for you to go back Hermione Jean. But don't worry. I'll see you again, but not for a very long time."

Before Hermione could answer she felt herself falling backwards and land on something soft. She jerked up in bed, and then winced at the pain she felt. She looked over to the window that was in the room, and noticed that it was getting dark. She heard some noises and turned to look to her left.

The sight she saw was not what she was expecting. She saw Blaise and Malfoy sleeping on chairs, their heads resting on her bed, she let out a soft smile at seeing them there instead of her friends.

DMDMDMDMD

Draco started stirring slightly in his sleep when he felt something moving on the bed. He saw Granger sitting up and looking out the window, her hands resting on her lap. He lightly shook Blaise silently telling him to wake up. Blaise woke with a start and scared the girl half to death. Blaise looked over at Hermione a big smile coming across his lips. Without warning he threw himself at her almost knocking her off the bed.

"Hermione!" He screamed in happiness. "You're awake!"

"Ow! Blaise you big oaf! Get off of me!" She tried to wriggle out of his grasp but he just held on all the tighter.

Draco watched the scene unfold with a bemused expression on his face. "It's good that you're awake Granger. You had us both scared to death."

Hermione looked up at him with wide eyes. "You? Draco Malfoy? Scard?" She asked, as a small smiled graced her face.

He snorted and looked back at her. "I just didn't want to have to do head duty's by myself… Ow!" He looked over at Blaise who was glaring at him. "Fine.. Yes. I was scared." He looked away and gave Blaise another glare. The latter just smiled innocently at him.

To both boy's astonishment, Hermione started laughing hysterically and almost fell off of the bed. Both boy's looked at her like she had grown an extra head.

"I'm.. So… Sorry.." She laughed and then snorted in an un lady like fashion and finally sobered up from her laughter.

"I'm sorry…" She looked up at them, a look coming across her face… "H-how come you're both here?" She asked in a small voice.

Draco looked down at his hands and sighed. "Well… I found you in your room… You were covered in blood, and you were barely breathing…"

"Oh… And what about you Blaise?" The girl said looking at him. Blaise looked at her with something close to wonder. Hermione was younger than both him and Draco by a good couple of months. She was also shorter by a good foot and a half. He looked at her and smiled.

"You do remember last year right? And how we became friends?" He asked looking into her eyes.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." She gave a hesitant look towards Draco and turned her face away.

"It's cool. I already told Draco while you were passed out. So he knows how we used to be friends."

"Oh.." She looked down again and noticed the scars running up and down her arms. She gasped softly and tried pulling her gown down her arms.

Draco noticed this and pulled her and away to stop her. Blaise went on her other side and grabbed her other hand. She looked down with a sad look in her eyes, as both boys started to trace her scars that marred her skin.

Draco looked up and broke the silence. "Granger.. What happened to you? You have bruises all over your body… And scars going up and down your arms."

Hermione looked away from him and pulled her arms away from both of them. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Nothing's wrong." Draco and Blaise looked up shocked upon hearing her voice. It was void of any emotion and both boys didn't like the sound of it coming from her.

"Hermione we just…" But before Blaise could finish she stood up from her bed and was pointing towards the door. "Out… Get out!" She screamed at them, her arms trembling from anger and sadness.

"Granger please we just want to help you." Draco said as he stood up from the bed and walked closer to her.

"Since when did you ever want to help me Draco Malfoy! You've never given a damn about me and now all the sudden you're this caring person! I want you both to get the hell out of here and stay out of my life! Now leave!" She sank to the floor and as Blaise started walking toward her she slid backwards and away from him.

She didn't see the look of complete and utter heartbreak on either of the boy's faces. They both looked at each other and then back at the broken girl on the floor and they slowly walked out of the room, both with thoughts of a certain brunette on their mind. "Well.. What do you propose we do now Draco?" Blaise asked with a solemn look on his face looking back at the hospital wing.

"I don't know mate. I don't know." With that Draco and Blaise walked back to the heads common room to await for the girl with the troubled thoughts.

Once the boys left, Hermione sunk back on her bed, and brought her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around them and cried and cried. She didn't know what to do. She knew that she had hurt Blaise and even Draco, but she couldn't bring herself to tell them, she didn't want to involve them and she didn't want to get hurt again.

She bit her lip and fell into a fitful slumber, not knowing that a certain girl was spying on her and the two boys, the girl smirked a malicious smirk and walked away, thinking of ways to make Hermione Granger crack. Yes. This new girl wanted her to break, and she knew of the perfect way to break her.

_A/N: Yes. I did another author's note. I got bored. But I decided to add another twist. This year at Hogwarts is going to be no walk in the park for Hermione Granger. She has other things in store for her. And I know that this chapter seems kind of boring but I needed a filler chapter, so please review! You'll make me very happy. _


	9. Still Dreaming

_A/N… Okay… So I have been getting a lot of mad reviews, because I haven't updated in a while… And for that I'm soooo sorry! Things have just been so hectic lately. What with school, Journalism, photography, homework and work… I've just been terrible busy. Aha. But for all of you reviewers who want me to write another chapter, here is a new one for you. I hope you continue to stick by me with this story and continue to give me a lot of great feedback. It helps me learn what I need to improve on, so for that I'm really great full to all of you wonderful reviewers. All of the characters in this story belong to the fabulous JK Rowling, except for her dad. So yeah. Here's another one for you. _

**Draco's Pov…..**

He stomped out of the hospital wing, with a small scowl on his face. How dare she kick him out, he was only trying to help her. But if she wanted to yell at him for trying to help, than she could take care of her problem all on her own.. He didn't care what happened to the little mudblood anymore. He was just going to ignore her like always.

He left Blaise without even saying goodbye to him, and he stomped up the stairs, into his common room. He walked up the steps to where the two bedrooms were, and he stopped outside of Hermione's room. He slowly opened her door, and walked in. When he walked inside of her room, he crinkled his nose in disgust, because her room still had the faint metallic smell of her blood, even though it was dried up now.

He walked over to her bed, and took his wand out of pant pocket. He said a spell and it instantly cleaned her sheets and made them the milky white color that they were before. The spell also cleaned the blood off of the floor and it tidied up her room for her.

He walked back into the common room and sat down on the sofa. He didn't know why he would clean her room after he just said he would ignore her.

_Just one more time…. I cleaned it up one more time… I'm never doing it again. If she wants to yell at me for helping, then I'll stop helping. _

Draco laid back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. He then closed his eyes hoping that sleep would take him, as he tried to get the images of the half battered girl out of his head. With that thought in mind, he finally let sleep overcome him and went into a dreamless slumber.

**Hermione's Pov…..**

Staring out of the window did nothing for Hermione Granger. It didn't clear her thoughts, and it didn't help her overcome her new found insomnia.

She really tried to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, images would flash into her head; images that she would rather not revisit at all anymore. None of her friends came to visit her… She didn't even think that they realized that their so called 'best friend' was in the hospital wing.

She tried not to think about them either, because thinking about them, made her want to burst into tears and just cry her heart out… She knew that when she asked Draco and Blaise to leave, that that would be it… She would be alone in the dark forever. She wanted them to stay though… Even though she told them to leave, she wanted them to fight, and stay. She wanted them to care about her.

When they walked out of the room though, she knew that it was over. She didn't want to trust anyone with her secrets, because if Draco and Blaise could walk out of the room after seeing that; then she knew that anyone would be able to walk out of the room. Even after hearing her secrets, she knew that no one would ever want to stick around.

She curled up in a ball on her bed, and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the wind that was coming in through her open window.

Sometimes at night, before she fell asleep, she liked to picture herself as a bird, because she always wanted to be able to fly in the sky and she wants to know what it feels like to be free. But while she's stuck in this time… She won't ever know what it's like to be free.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

She woke up the next morning as she stretched on her bed. She was supposed to be in the hospital wing for one more day. Madam Pomfrey has been shoving food down her throat left and right, although it was hard for Hermione to keep anything down after not eating for so long.

She finished her breakfast, and pulled her knees up to her chest, and closed her eyes. Her peace that she was feeling didn't last for very long because all of a sudden the door slammed open, and wouldn't you know it, in walked her three 'best friends.'

She picked her head up at them a gave them a small smile. "Hey guys, what are you doing here?" She moved her head back and forth between the three, seeing the looks of shock on their faces. She looked down at her arms, thinking that her scars and bruises were showing, and she gave a sigh of relief when she saw that they weren't.

Biting her lip she waited for one of them to say something.

"Mione what happened? We heard from Seamus that heard from someone else, that you were in the Hospital Wing… We didn't even realize until the said something." Harry said, looking down at the girl in front of him.

Hermione gave a look that was missed by the three people in front of her. _Of course they didn't realize that I was gone… Why would they ever notice if Hermione Granger went missing… _She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Ron. "….Moine?" She looked up at him with wide eyes. "What did you say Ron?"

She looked up at him again, and pulled her legs closer to her chest, a defense mechanism she learned, to keep herself shielded. "I said… What happened to you Mione? Why are you here in the Hospital Wing?" Ron said with a small frown coming across his face.

"Oh… Well I fell down the stairs in the common room, and passed out apparently. Malfoy found me and brought me here." She bit her lip, deciding to tell them about the Malfoy bit.

Ginny snorted. "Malfoy? Why in the world would he, of all people, decide to be nice and bring you here? Surely he wouldn't do that." No one seen the anger in Hermione's eyes until it was too late.

"What… Would you rather have him leave me on the floor in pain? Am I not deserving to come to the hospital wing? Huh Ginny?" She yelled in anger and hurt. "Hermione that's not…" But Hermione cut her off. "Did you want me to suffer Ginny? Do all of you want me to go through all of that pain? None of you even knew that I was in her until this morning for christs sake!" "Hermione we…"

"Save it Ron… I don't want to hear anything you have to say! I just want you to get the hell out of my room! Get. The. Fuck. Out!" She screamed the last sentence at them in so much agony… The other three never heard that kind of pain in her voice before. They wanted to stay… But she didn't want them to. Without another word to her the three of them quickly fled the room to avoid her wrath.

She fell down on her bed, and cried her eyes out. She bit down on her lip, to muffle her sobs, so as to not alert Madam Pomfrey. She curled into a ball, as her salty tears ran down her face and onto her pillow.

She was numb.

She didn't want to feel all of this agony anymore..

Her own best friends didn't even stay, when she so desperately wanted them to. She wanted them to care. She wanted them to care above all the other people. She wanted them to need her.

But she knew that none of her wishes would come true. No matter how hard she tried to pull herself out of this nightmare, it would suck her right back in.

And all of this time, she knew that it was all a dream, or so she hoped. Waiting for them to need her was all a dream.

She was still dreaming, and she knew that this was one dream she would never wake up from.


	10. Rescue Me

**A/N: So thank you to and disappointed for your wonderful reviews. I loved them! And thank you to GriffinixWEla for the constructive criticism. I have really taken that into consideration. So here's another chapter for all of you fabulous reviewers. **

**Draco's Pov: **

Draco woke up late in the afternoon after his very long nap. The last thing he remembered before he fell asleep, was that he walked into Granger's room and cleaned it up for her. He also made the promise to himself that he would never help Hermione Granger again. No matter how much he wanted to take her pain away. If she wanted to scream at him for helping her, then he wouldn't help her anymore.

He looked at his watch and his eyes got wide as he realized that he missed breakfast. He then remembered that it was Saturday and he didn't have anything to do that day, so he might as well wait around until lunch started.

Remembering that Granger was supposed to get out of the hospital wing that day he quickly got up and walked into his room. He changed out of yesterday's clothes and into some jeans with a white shirt. He decided to leave his hair messy because he didn't feel like combing it, and he put on his shoes tying them tightly.

He walked down to the common room and out of the portrait hole. He didn't want to be there when Granger got back, because he didn't know what to say to her without either yelling at her, or walking up to her and hugging her. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked down the flights of stairs towards the entrance. He walked out of the doors, and into the fresh September morning.

Walking down the path, he found a giant oak tree, and sat down on a rock that just so happened to be there. He couldn't stop thinking about the girl with caramel eyes and hair. She invaded his every thoughts and dreams, and he just could shake that something was very wrong with her.

He sat out there for a couple of minutes before walking back inside the castle. He checked his watch once more, and noticed that lunch was about to start, as he noticed students going in the double doors.

Without watching where he was going, he began to walk quite blindly, until he ran right into someone. "Oh I'm…" They both started at the same time when he looked up to see Potter's shocked face staring back at him.

"Why don't you watch where you're going Potter?" He snarled, his nose flaring as he scowled up at the boy with the lightning shaped scar.

"Why don't you ferret? You were the one that bumped into me." Harry was angry that much was clear.

"Whatever, just go back to your precious mudblood and blood traitors. They should help you get over being so pathetic." Draco looked back at the boy and noticed that when he mentioned Granger, the other boy's face fell just slightly. He didn't think twice about it and instead of waiting for Potter to answer, he just turned on his heels and walked straight into the Great Hall, walking over to the Slytherin table. He took his seat next to Blaise and started serving himself some food, just playing with it on his plate a little bit.

"So Granger's getting out of the hospital wing today…" Draco looked up as he heard Blaise's announcement. "Yeah… I know.. Which is why I got out of the common room right when I woke up… I didn't want to be there when she got there." Draco looked down at his plate when he said that and continued playing with his food. He was to engrossed in what he was doing that he didn't feel a certain person sitting next to him.

"Hi Drakey." He looked up with wide eyes when he heard that voice and turned his head to look at the person in question. "Pansy…. How many times have I told you not to call me that?" He said with gritted teeth trying so hard not to lose his control.

"Aww. Come on Draco. You used to love when I called you that… Remember." She smirked at him as she whispered the last part in his ear.

Draco turned his head to look at her, and gave her another scowl. "Pansy… If you don't leave right now… Or get the hell away from me… Then you will be very sorry.." He scowled at her and gave her a small glare, and turned back to Blaise.

"Hey Draco look, it's Granger." Draco looked up and seen the object of his thoughts walk through the door. He couldn't stop staring at her. She looked a little better than she did before she went to the hospital wing, but she was still very thin. Him and Blaise watched her every move while she was finding a place to sit.

Draco noticed that pothead and his boy wonder were looking at the thin girl with worry, and Draco thought that she was going to sit by them, but she surprised him, and she sat by herself. He noticed that she didn't eat and she just continued to push her food around on her plate.

He looked up at Blaise and seen the worry on his face and knew that the other boy was thinking the same as he was.

_We have got to save Hermione Granger, otherwise she'll end up killing herself. _

**Hermione's Pov: **

Hermione got up early from the Hospital Wing to make sure that everything was okay with her. As soon as Madam Pomfrey said that she was good to go, she was up and out of her bed so fast that Madam Pomfrey couldn't even tell her to be careful.

She got dressed and thanked the kind nurse for all that she's done and left the room. She looked down at her watch and noticed that she missed breakfast, so she instead walked up to the common room. She walked in to the room a little hesitantly because she didn't know what she would do if she saw Draco in there.

She opened the door and climbed inside, and gave a sigh of relief at no sight of her house mate. She walked up to her room and opened the door walking inside. She gasped at how clean her room was, because she knew that it wasn't like that when she was taken to the hospital wing. She knew that Draco must have cleaned it up, because she didn't know who else knew her password. Biting her lip, she didn't know what to think about him cleaning up for her.

She knew that he must have used magic, because he wouldn't clean by hand and that she was sure of. She walked toward her closet and grabbed shorts and a long sleeved shirt, with her converse and she put some bracelets on her wrist, to make it less suspicious.

She combed her hair and used a straightening charm on it, to make it straight and not her normal busy hair.

Walking out of the common room and down to the Great Hall, she stopped at the entrance hearing all of the chatter that was coming from inside of it.

She pushed opened the door as the talking stopped, and she ducked her head in embarrassment just wanting all of the people to stop staring at her. She wrapped her arms around herself as if to shield herself from all of the stares and even some of the glares.

She chose a spot at the end of the table, purposely ignoring the shocked looks on her 'friend's' faces. She bit her lip and piled some food onto her plate but didn't eat any. She was looking down as the people started to slowly go back to their conversations and ignoring the lonely girl at the end of the table.

The silence was suffocating her. Even though there was talking all around her, her silence was suffocating and she knew that she was breaking.

She wanted to be rescued. She knew that everyone thought that she wanted to be left alone, and maybe she did want that once upon a time… But now she wanted someone to rescue her.

She wanted someone to bring her back to her original bookworm self. She grabbed her head on both sides to stop the pounding headache that was beginning to start because of all of her jumbled thoughts, and she closed her eyes tightly to block out the sound.

She wanted to be rescued. She wanted to be saved. She wanted them to see that she needed them, even if she didn't act like that.

Most of all… She wanted to scream right there. She wanted to cry in the middle of the great hall and she wanted to scream for help.

Please…

Please…

_Somebody please… Rescue me. _


	11. Problems

**A/N: I know! It's been forever and a day ago that I've written a new chapter, but I got seriously sick, like hospital sick; but I'm back and ready for your reviews! And please bear with me that it's probably going to take a little bit for Hermione's and Draco's relationship to hit off because I don't really like rushing into things all that much. Thanks! **

**Hermione's P.O.V.**

Getting up from her spot at the table, Hermione thought that she was through pretending that day. She has been through too much to even fake being hungry.

Walking out of the double doors, she missed the looks that almost every pair of eyes in the Great Hall gave her.

Eyes cast downward, she wasn't paying attention to where she was heading, when out of nowhere she was sent plummeting to the ground.

Bracing herself for the fall, her hands shot out in front of her, saving her face from further damaging herself.

As she curled up in a ball on the floor, she heard the roaring laughter of three girls standing in front of her.

"Watch where you're going Granger… Wouldn't want something to happen to you now would we?" The loud voice of Pansy Parkinson screeching in front of her.

Looking up from her spot on the floor, Hermione regarded the three girls with a curious look. "What do you and your clones want Parkinson?"

"Oh nothing Granger… We just want you to be careful. Wouldn't want something happening to your pretty little face now would we?" She said with a sneer.

"Is that a threat Parkinson?" Hermione asked, getting up from her spot on the cold hard floor.

She didn't like that place.. Being on the floor in front of Pansy… It made her feel inferior, and that was something that Hermione Granger didn't like.

"Not a threat Granger… But if you don't watch out… It will soon turn into a promise that something will happen to your face." With a snarl and a screeching laugh, Pansy and her two clones walked into the Great Hall shaking their hips all the way.

Dusting off her hands, Hermione bit her lip and walked down to the dungeons awaiting the rest of her class for Potions to start.

About fifteen minutes into her wait, the sound of voices woke her from her stupor and she looked up seeing the rest of the Gryffindor seventh years and the Slytherins coming down and filing inside.

Deciding to follow them she walked inside and looked around at the available tables.

Instead of taking her usual table at the front of the class with her friends, she opted for an available seat in the back of the room, hoping to go unnoticed.

Feeling eyes on her, she started looking around wildly thinking that her dad had found a way inside Hogwarts, but upon looking around, she stumbled upon the culprit that was watching her.

**Draco's P.O.V…..**

Walking into the Potions room, Draco took his usual seat at the back of the room with Blaise. Looking around the rest of the room, he noticed Granger come in last and take a seat in the back of the room.

Frowning, he thought this an odd thing for her to do.

No it was not unusual for anyone to sit in the back of the room, but it was odd in a sense that it was Granger, sitting in the back of the room.

Trying to figure out what was wrong with her was wearing him out. She wasn't talking to anybody, so he couldn't even eavesdrop to figure out what was wrong with her.

Draco hadn't heard a single word from Granger, since she kicked him and Blaise out of the Hospital Wing, and it was very disconcerting.

Her keeping everything bottled up like that wasn't going to help her any. She needed to talk to someone, even if it was her own enemy.

He stopped when he realized the direction his thoughts were taking him, and he frowned.

_I decided to give up on her… Where are these thoughts coming from?_

His frown deepened trying to figure things out, when a tap on his shoulder distracted him from his thoughts.

He looked over to Blaise to see the other boy frowning at him. "What Blaise?" Blaise just nodded his head in the direction that Hermione was sitting, and Draco's frown just deepened more.

It was the first time that he noticed that Granger was looking at him. Perhaps she noticed that he was staring at her.

He looked at her again, and sent her a scowl and a sneer, turning his nose up at her.

Just then Professor Snape walked into the room, his black robes billowing behind him.

"Alright settle down you worthless sods," he said in his quiet voice, his black eyes sweeping around the room.

"Ah… And what do we have here? Ms. Granger? Sitting in the back of the room alone… How very interesting."

**Hermione's P.O.V….**

Looking up and hearing Snape's voice directed at her, she stared at her professor with black dead eyes, not responding to his trying to get a rise out of her.

Looking back down at the table she just completely ignored her professor, hoping that for once he would just leave her alone… No such luck.

"What Granger? No Know-It-All response this time? No witty comeback? Hmm… What a pity, alright turn to page three hundred and ninety two, and begin reading about truth potions."

Hermione quickly and quietly turned to the page, and began reading.

Her thoughts would not leave her so easily, trying to get rid of them by getting into the book.

Usually by having a book of some sort in front of her, she would be able to get other thoughts out of her head by just disappearing into the book, but it just wasn't happening these days.

Trying to turn her thoughts off was something that came very hard for her now. She thought back to this morning, back to Parkinson and her two clones.

What else could they do to her to make her life anymore worse than it already was?

Nobody anyone ever did to her anymore would make her life even worse.

Well except for exposing her secret… But even Pansy wasn't evil enough for that… And anyways, Pansy doesn't even know her secret.

No one does… So she should be safe right?

She finally finished the book when Professor Snape called the class to attention again.

"Now that you have all finished reading… I want you to copy down the instructions on the board.. Do exactly as they say.. And. Don't. Mess. Up. Your. Potion. Or it could have serious consequences. Get to work!" He barked.

At once the room sprang to life, with everybody scrambling to get to the cupboards.

Hermione slowly got up from her seat and walked to the cupboard, grabbing all of the ingredients she needed.

She walked right past Malfoy and Blaise, looked at them briefly and then walked quickly to her seat.

Sitting down and biting her lip, she quickly went to work on her potion making sure that it was precise and trying not to mess it up, with all the mess going on inside of her head.

Once her potion was finished, it was a yellow gold color, exactly like it was supposed to be.

Once Snape walked by to inspect the potions, he just looked down his hooked nose at Hermione's and walked away without saying a comments, which meant the he could find nothing to criticize.

As soon as he was done inspecting all of the potions he walked up to the front to address the class once more.

"Well not that all of you have finished your… Potions… And in some cases… Your problems… You can all put them in a glass jar." He said looking around as all of the students put their potions into jars.

"Now next time when we meet.. You will all be testing your potions out on each other, I will pair you up with someone in this class and you will each ask each other questions to see if your potions work."

Upon hearing that, Hermione's eyes grew as wide as saucers.

_No no no no no… This can NOT be happening. There is no way that Snape can be that cruel. _

But she soon realized that he was that cruel…

He dismissed them and as she gathered her belongings, she was trying to gather her thoughts.

What if someone found out her secret, and used that to hurt her… What if they told the whole school? She was starting to hyperventilate from her thoughts as she was walking.

_Things cannot possibly get any worse. _

But as she was walking, she bumped into someone that sent them both flying towards the ground.

She looked up at the person she bumped into, and her eyes narrowed.

Looking at the pug face of Pansy Parkinson she thought: _Yes. Things have just gotten a lot worse. _


	12. A Truce

**A/N: Well here's another chapter. Please review if you haven't had the chance. I would really like to know your opinions and stuff. I don't own any of this, no matter how much I really want to. **

Hermione's P.O.V….

Picking herself up off the floor she looked down at Parkinson who was quickly trying to gather her belongings. "Granger watch where the hell you're going," she sneered and picked herself up off the ground.

Hermione simply looked down at her and turned on her heel to walk away. "Granger don't fucking walk away from me!" Pansy screeched and ran in front of her blocking her exit. "I was talking to you you filthy little mudblood." She sneered again staring at Hermione.

"Out of my way Parkinson," she said as she once again started to push past her.

Once again Pansy blocked her way. "So Granger… Are you excited? About tomorrow that is? What secrets are you hiding Granger? You seem to be isolating yourself from all of your friends what are you hiding from them and the whole school? Well… I'll find out soon enough… And when I do… You'll be sorry that you returned to this school after the war… You should have kept your pathetic self at home… where you belong."

Laughing, Parkinson pushed past Hermione, knocked her books to the ground, and left the dungeon, not bothering to look back.

Shocked, Hermione stood in place the entire time for at least 5 minutes, before she got the feeling back in her legs. Bending down to gather her books, she started picking them up one by one.

As she was gathering them up, she heard walking, and noticed shoes by her as someone else tried helping her gather her books.

The person whom was helping her gave her her book back, and without even looking up she gave a small thanks and shoved them back in her bag. "You're welcome…."

Giving a small squeak of surprise she looked up at the voice who spoke to her and her eyes grew wide. "B-Blaise…" She bit her lip and looked up at the boy who she grew close to before the war last year.

She thought back to her night in the infirmary and how she yelled at Blaise and Malfoy for just trying to help… Staring that the dark haired boy now, she didn't know what to do.

"Hi Hermione…Are you okay? I heard what Pansy was saying.. Don't let it get to you." He looked down at the floor fearing that she would yell at him again when he was knocked to the floor. Hermione had thrown herself at him.

After hearing his words, knowing that he wasn't mad at her, she launched herself in his arms knocking him to the ground in a big hug. "I'm so so sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you in the hospital wing. I was just frustrated, and I don't know I don't know. I just snapped I'm sorry I'm sorry."

It was while she was rambling that Blaise realized that she was shaking and he scooped her up in his arms rocking her back and forth. "Hey… It's okay, you're fine, you're safe here. Calm down Mione," he continued rocking her back and forth on the floor until he was sure that she had stopped shaking.

Finally regaining her control she gently climbed out of his arms and blushed slightly once she realized how weak she looked. She stood up and grabbed her bag looking down at the handsome Slytherin before her.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered biting her lip and looking down at him again before abruptly turning on her heel and running from the dungeons like something was after her. She continued running even after hearing Blaise calling for her to go back.

She didn't like the feeling she got when she was with him, like letting all of her walls come down. She didn't like that.

Whenever she was with Blaise she felt like she could relax that was something that she didn't have the luxury to do anymore.

Quickly escaping that prison of a dungeon she ran into the girls lavatory not stopping until she was in a stall. She couldn't breathe. She knew that lunch would be starting soon, but she didn't want to go quite so early. Sitting down on the closed toilet, she brought her legs up to her chest trying to catch her breathing.

She wanted to cry and scream all at the same time, but she couldn't. Her throat was closing up and she couldn't escape it. Quickly grabbing her bag, she pulled out her supplies. Her razor, and an alcohol swab to stanch the bleeding. She didn't want another episode like the one she had in her room.

She couldn't afford another screw up like that. Taking her razor she made one clean sweep across her wrist, and she bit down on her lip letting her blood flow out of her system for a little bit.

When she shed enough blood, she pressed the alcohol swab on her arm and hissed at the pain that it brought. She hadn't inflicted pain on herself in so long, that she almost forgot what it felt like. Biting her lip she finally cleaned up all of the blood and left the stall making sure to clean all of the blood off of her arms.

She walked over to the mirror and washed her face clean of her make-up and tears, trying to regain her composure. Walking out of the bathroom she quietly made her way to the Great Hall just in time for lunch.

Draco's P.O.V…..

Draco was furious… Absolutely furious… He didn't know why though, as he really had no reason to be mad at all. He had heard everything that Pansy had said, and that in itself was enough to make him furious; but then he saw Blaise and Granger, and seeing them like that on the floor, well something stirred inside of him, and it made him angry.

Quickly walking away from them he took the long way towards the hall, occasionally stopping to think. Finally making it to those double door that would lead him to his meal, he saw Granger walking out of the girls room and towards the hall.

She stopped when she saw him and he saw her eyes grow wide, and her starting to chew on her bottom lip. _She looks kind of cute like that…_Hearing his thought in his head he quickly shook it trying to be rid of it.

Having such thoughts in his head was not something that he wanted… Especially thoughts about Granger being cute…

"Granger…" Nodding his head at her he waited for her to say something to him even if it was a nasty remark. He just wanted the old Granger back, no a shell of her former self.

"Malfoy… Are you going in, or are you going to stand there all night?" She asked, looking at him with her big brown eyes.

Looking into those eyes he noticed how oddly distant they were, and that was not something he liked to see in Hermione Granger. "How are you Granger? Been holding out alright?" He decided to play it nice, make it easier on both of them.

Watching her eyes grow even wider, he couldn't help but smile… And give an actual smile. He knew he caught her off guard and he was happy about that.

Hermione's P.O.V….

Hearing his question, she couldn't help but question his motives. He had changed after the war, and he was Blaise's best friend… He couldn't be all that bad could he?

Mustering up the courage that she had she decided to get right to the point. Besides, it would be nice for her to have a friend, even if it was Malfoy. Maybe her and Blaise would start talking again.

"Look Malfoy… We're both heads of the school, so it would be nice if we could at least be civil… So what do you say… A truce?" She bit her lip staring at the blonde Slytherin thinking that he was quite attractive. Realizing the direction that her thoughts were quickly taking her, she shook her head waiting for his answer.

Contemplating her decision Malfoy finally smiled and held out his hand. "Fine. A truce it is then."

Smiling back, Hermione gripped his hand and shook it not quite realizing what she had done. "W-well Malfoy… I had better get in there before people start wondering where there head girl went off too.." Smiling slightly again, she walked off into the great hall not realizing that a certain blonde haired Slytherin was staring behind her the whole way.

With a brighter outlook on the whole situation, she was just happy thinking that maybe, just maybe with this whole truce thing, she might have Blaise as her friend again… And even a cute blonde Slytherin as well.


	13. The Truth Comes Out

**The Truth Comes Out**

**A/N…. Oh my lanta!... Now… I know what you're all thinking… You're all thinking "what the heck! This chick hasn't written in over a year!" Am I right? Haha. Well I am terribly sorry about that. I've just been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to get back to this story. Well now… On with the show! (: **

The next day came way too quickly for Hermione Granger, and she was dreading what it had in store for her. She sat up in her bed and looked around her room. It was messy… A lot messier than she had originally thought, but now that she was looking around it, she realized that it could do with a little cleaning up. Books were strewn about everywhere, paper splayed out all over her desk and her clothes all over the floor. She never remembered being this messy before.

She ran her hands threw her hair getting it out of her face, before gingerly climbing out of her bed. She rolled her head from side to side, getting the knots out, before grabbing her clothes and a towel and walking over to the door that led to the bathroom.

She walked inside and turned on the tub letting it fill up with water the smell of mint reaching her nose.

She climbed inside and gave a little hiss of pain looking down at her arm. She saw another fresh cut on her skin and remembered the night before and how she couldn't turn her damn thoughts off. She grabbed the sponge and started scrubbing her skin until it was raw, she dunked her head under the water getting her hair wet, when she finally decided to get out of the water. She walked over to the full length mirror and looked at herself.

She bit down on her lip and ran her hands over the bruises that still stained her white skin. She looked at the scar that would forever leave her with the memories. She didn't even recognize herself anymore, and her eyes looked dead. She wondered if anyone else noticed her eyes. She gave herself a disgusted look before averting her eyes as she cast a drying spell on herself. She pulled on a long sleeved black shirt with a skull on it, and black jeans with buckles on the side. She then slipped on her converse. Satisfied with her outfit, she walked out of the bathroom and into her room.

She slipped on her school robe and grabbed her bag before walking out of her room and down the stairs to the common room. She was surprised to see a certain blonde haired Slytherin sitting on the couch already dressed and reading a book. Seeing as it was only six in the morning, she didn't think he would be awake yet.

"Malfoy… What time did you wake up?" She walked over to the couch sitting on the arm and looked down at him with one of her eyebrows raised. "You do know that it's only six right?"

She continued looking at the blonde waiting for his reply with an inquiring look. She noticed that he looked good, and I mean really good.

_Get a grip on yourself Hermione. This is Malfoy we're talking about…. You can't be thinking those thoughts about him… But wait… Why can't I? I mean… We called a truce didn't we?_

He finally looked up at her and shut his book before standing up. "Well… I thought that since we called the truce yesterday… We could walk down to breakfast together? What do you say Granger?"

Draco knew that he was pushing it… He didn't know why he was doing what he was doing but he decided to just go with it. He was going to start taking his mother's advice and not worry about blood or what anyone else thinks. He was going to befriend this Gryffindor beauty whether people liked it or not.

"Um.. I guess?" She didn't really mean for it to come out at a question, but it did. She found this all a little unsettling that he suddenly wanted to walk with her to breakfast but she wasn't going to complain.

They made their way out of the common room and walked slowly down the stair and around the castle towards the great hall. They stopped just inside the doors and stared at each other awkwardly.

"Um… See you later… Granger." Draco rubbed the back of his neck not really knowing what to say before he turned abruptly on his heel and walked towards the common room sitting next to Blaise.

"So… You and Hermione? Walking to the great hall together?" Blaise raised one of his perfectly shaped eyebrows before looking back and forth towards the Gryffindor goddess and his best friend. "Oh shut it Zabini… If you must know, we called a truce yesterday, so I thought that I would be polite.

He only heard his best friend grunt before returning to his meal, the only thoughts on his mind was of the upcoming potions lesson.

Hermione trudged her way towards the dungeons with a heavy heart. She really didn't know what to expect in the class, and to be quite honest… she was a little worried as to who Snape was going to place her with.

She was hoping and praying that he wouldn't pair her with Parkinson because she just knew that if the other witch knew her secret that her whole life would be over and she would leave Hogwarts. She wouldn't be able to take that humiliation.

On the other hand, if it were Blaise or Malfoy… One of them would want to find out her secret. She didn't want them to expose her, she was terrified of what would happen, of what they would think of her. Would they hate her? Would they call her a slut because she lost her virginity to her own father?

She didn't know what to think, and she couldn't breathe at the thought of it.

She walked into the room just before Snape got there and she sat quietly in the back of the room, waiting for the impending doom that was sure to follow.

"Well now… I know you're all so eager to get these truths out of the way, so when I call your name go and sit with your partner, you're truth potions will already be waiting for you." He gave them all a sneer and picked up the roll of parchment that was sitting on his desk. "Potter-Goyle, Weasley-Nott, Longbottom-Parkinson, Granger-Malfoy…"

Hermione zoned out after that her mind buzzing with thoughts. _Not Malfoy… Anyone but Malfoy, he'll want to know everything! I'm not ready for that! I don't even know if I can trust him. _

Hermione bit down on her lip before slowly getting up and making her way towards Malfoy. She looked at him with deadened eyes and then averted them to the floor. "So… Who should go first?" She looked up at him when he shrugged. "I guess I could take the potion first." He said looking at her. She nodded her head just as he reached out and took the potion in his hands, shooting it back. She vaguely heard other partners at work but she wasn't really listening to them.

She began to ask him various questions, ranging from his favorite subject, so some pretty tough questions about his home life, to which he had no choice but to answer truthfully. When the potion finally died off she bit down on her lip and took the potion down her throat. She looked at him with wide eyes, scared as to what he was going to ask her.

It started off with innocent questions, such as what her favorite color was and her favorite subject, but then he stopped and took a deep breath and Hermione feared the worst. "I'm sorry Granger… But I need to know…" And before she could stop him, he asked the one question that she had hoped to god that he wouldn't ask.

"How did you get those bruises Granger?" He looked at her directly in the eye and watched as she opened her mouth.

"My father gave them to me." If that was the answer Malfoy wasn't expecting, then he was in for a big shock. "Y-Your father gave you those?" Malfoy was shocked to say the least and he was a little sick to his stomach.

"What did your father do to you Granger?" He asked with a slightly sick stomach. He didn't want to hear the answer to that, but he couldn't stop the question from coming out of his mouth.

Hermione looked at him with tears in her eyes and she couldn't stop the words that came out of her mouth. She told him everything. Of her hurt, of how her mother died, of how he beat her and called her a freak, and she told him that every night up until her return to Hogwarts, he would visit her in her room, and how he ripped away the last of her innocence, and she cried. She couldn't stop her tears as they left her body, and she couldn't stop herself from shaking.

She looked at the handsome grey eyed student and she noticed the pity in them. That was something that she definitely didn't want. Without another word, she quickly got up from her seat, and grabbed her stuff running out of the door and knocking her chair over in the process. She didn't even hear the screams of her professor telling her that class wasn't over.

Draco just sat their staring at the spot where she was sitting just a moment before, in shock. He wasn't expecting that answer, and it made him sick, and it made his blood boil… How could anyone do that to an innocent girl? How could her own father do that to her? He didn't understand it…

Draco was snapped out of his thoughts as fists banged on his table, as he looked up into the angry eyes of the boy who lived and his pet weasel. "What the hell did you say to her Malfoy?!" Harry was seething and Ron was turning purple from not breathing.

Draco stood up from his seat his blood boiling with his newfound information. "None of your damn business Potter! And for your information I didn't do a damn thing to her!" He gave them one last withering glance before picking up his belongings and walking out of the classroom, leaving an angry Harry Potter and Ron Weasley and one confused professor Snape. "Back to work you worthless sods!" He all but yelled and everyone quickly returned to what they were doing.

Without either Draco's or Hermione's knowledge, a certain pug face Slytherin had heard their whole conversation and she was smirking evilly wondering what she was going to do with her new found information. _Yes… I'm going to make Hermione Grangers life a living hell and make her wish that she had crawled back into that little hole she crawled out of. _

Hermione was sitting in her room her knees up to her chest, tears running down her face. She couldn't get the look that he had out of her mind, it was driving her insane. She didn't understand why he had to ask that question… She didn't know what he was going to do with that question.. It was driving her insane… Could she trust him?

She let out a frustrated groan and she threw herself back onto her bed with a thud.

This was going to be one long year, and she didn't know how she was going to make it through the days if she keeps getting questions like these asked. She rolled over so that she was on her side a few more tears escaping her eyes before she fell into a fitful slumber.


	14. Lies Come To Life

**Lies Come To Life**

**A/N: Haha. Silvana, yes! I'm back and I will hopefully be able to finish this story! (: Now… Here's another chapter for all of you lovely readers and if you do read my story… Leave a review please! (: **

Days had passed since the potions incident and she had gone to great lengths to try and avoid Malfoy. She didn't want to see him and she didn't want to see that look in his eyes.

She avoided Harry and Ron and she didn't want to even look at Blaise for fear that Malfoy had told him. With a sigh she got out of bed, her hair still slightly damp from her shower the night before, and she cast another straightening charm on it. She pulled on a black long sleeve shirt and pulled a purple short sleeve shirt over it.

She then pulled on dark blue jeans with her black converse and looked at herself in the mirror before she was slightly satisfied with the outcome. Seeing that it was a Saturday she didn't have to worry about going to classes today. She looked over at her alarm clock and noticed that it was already nine forty-five and everyone would already be at breakfast.

Walking out of her common room she made her way slowly down to the great hall. She was so consumed in her thoughts that she didn't see the papers that were taped to the wall. She was so distracted, that she didn't notice that every time she would pass people they would look at her and the girls would giggle and the guys would look at her with a different expression in their eyes.

Walking into the great hall all of the talking stopped and every pair of eyes were trained on her. She finally noticed looking up and looking around the great hall.

She felt someone bump into her, sending her flying to the floor with a thud, and she heard them laugh.

"I always knew you were a slut Granger, that little innocent act couldn't last for long." Pansy sneered down at the Gryffindor on the ground and let out another laugh.

"What are you talking about Parkinson?" Hermione was getting this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach and she didn't like it. She felt her insides churning with distaste at the girl in front of her, having finally picked herself up off of the floor.

Pansy threw a piece of paper at her, and she felt her brown eyes go wide in horror. _No… No no no. This cannot be happening to me. _

She turned her horrified eyes towards Parkinson before turning them back to the page. It read:

**Miss Perfect Not as Perfect As We All Think. **

**Hermione Granger, the Gryffindor golden girl is anything but **

**Perfect. She has a secret. And it's time that our school finds out what **

**It is. **

The page had a picture of Hermione sitting down in one of the stall in the girls bathroom, a knife and alcohol swab in her hands. She shook her head back and forth before looking up noticing all of the stares that she was getting. It then had another headline on the bottom of the page saying that she was desperate for attention and that she slept with guys for money.

She knew that that wasn't true since everything that happened to her this summer… But how would anyone believe that if they had a picture of her cutting herself.

"She's just an attention seeking whore!" Someone screamed out from one of the tables and her head snapped up looking straight at the person who screamed that. Lavender Brown was pointing a finger straight at her and accusing looking on her face, along with a sneer.

"I-I'm not…" She didn't know what to say and she looked around the great hall again. Her eyes finally landed on Harry and Ron, and the look in their eyes made her cringe. She then noticed Ginny clinging to his arm with a hateful scowl on her face.

Hermione backed up accidently hitting Pansy before turning around and running straight out of the great hall, putting as much distance between herself and everybody else in the room. She ran straight out of the castle and towards the black lake, stumbling when she got to the tree. She threw herself down on the grass, bringing her knees up to her chest and letting out a muffled sob.

DMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDM

Draco looked up with horrified eyes when he saw Granger walk in. He didn't know how Pansy had captured this picture but he knew that the second part wasn't true. Granger wasn't a whore like the rest of this student population.

He saw her run out of the great hall when he decided that this time he was going to follow her. He got up when he felt someone move besides him. Her turned his head to look at his best friend and raising his eyebrows.

"Oh don't look at me like that Draco. I know you're going after her and I'm going with you." Blaise looked at him, his calm façade not fooling Draco for a second before he nodded his head, the two running out after the hysterical Gryffindor.

They stopped outside of the hall looking around. "Where do you think she could have gone?" Draco asked with an inquiring look.

"I don't know… Let's check everywhere for her, and not leave one spot untouched." The started looking for the sad Gryffindor, checking everywhere inside of the castle, but not finding her anywhere. When they had already been looking for an hour, they were about to give up on their search stopping just before the doors that led outside.

"Well… the only place that we haven't looked is outside. Let's go." Draco pushed open the doors that led outside and him and Blaise stopped just staring out towards the black lake.

"There she is." Blaise pointed out and Draco saw a lone figure sitting up against the tree, her knees up to her chest. "Well… Let's go." They started walking towards the tree, stopping just before they reached her.

Draco looked over at the girl with sad eyes, not knowing what to make of her. He didn't tell Blaise about her secrets because he thought that she would tell him when she was ready too. They walked slowly over to her before sitting on either side of her, not talking, just simply sitting there and letting the silence consume them.

The felt her move and the both looked at her noticing her tear stained face. She did look very skinny, her clothes practically falling off of her back. Draco continued to watch her before she bit her lip and looked out towards the black lake.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

Hermione felt the two sitting next to her so she didn't bother to look up for quite some time. She bit down on her lip before finally looking up and staring out towards the black lake.

She didn't know what to say, so she just sat in silence with them for a little bit longer.

"Now everyone thinks I'm a whore." She said, her voice coming out hollow. She didn't know how to keep her emotions in check, so she decided to just get them out of her system for now.

She looked back and forth between the two, more tears shining in her eyes. '

"Why are you two even out here?" She looked towards the black lake again, her eyes showing no more emotion in them.

"Because Hermione… We care about you… I care about you." Blaise looked down at his hands and then looked back at the fragile Gryffindor. "When I saw you in the hospital wing that day… I was scared half to death, I was hoping that you weren't going to leave this place… I want you here Hermione." Blaise looked at her with worried eyes and she looked up at him, her eyes once again shining with tears.

"Really?" She looked up at the Slytherin and threw her arms around him, letting out a muffled sob, tears sliding down her cheeks and onto his shirt.

She then sat up rubbing her eyes clean of her tears before remembering the other boy that was sitting there as well. She turned her eyes on him, looking at him and biting her lip.

"And you? Why are you here?" She tilted her head slightly to the side, scrutinizing the blonde sitting in front of her. She didn't know what to make of him, but she knew that she at least wanted to be his friend.

He turned his eyes towards the small Gryffindor girl before opening his mouth to speak. "Because Granger… Blaise is my best friend, and I figured, if he could like you then I guess I could learn to like you as well." He turned his uncomfortable gaze towards the ground before looking back up at her.

"And I was worried about you…" He bit down on the bottom of his lip before looking away towards the black lake. "I would… Also like us to try and be friends Granger… Maybe not best friends, but for now, friends… If you would like." He felt uncomfortable saying this, and he was about to open his mouth before she attacked him in a big hug, getting tears on his shirt as well.

"Thank you… Thank you so much…" She whispered against his shirt before she felt him put his arms awkwardly around her and pat her back… "Uh Granger… You're getting tears on my shirt."

She pulled back with wide eyes, "I'm sorry Malfoy!" She looked up at him, noticing the smile in his eyes and his lips curved up in a small smile. She heard Blaise laugh behind her before she too let out a little laugh.

She looked towards the black lake, her heart feeling lighter than it had since the beginning of the semester.

She had two new friends, who she could talk to when something was bothering her. She may not be able to open up to them now, but she knew that maybe someday soon, she would be able to tell them all of her secrets.

She let out a contented sigh, and felt one arm wrap around her waist and another arm wrap around her shoulders.

With her new found friendship on her mind she gave another contented sigh, smiling genuinely for the first time since she arrived.


	15. Halloween

Halloween

**A/N: Yay! Another chapter is up for all of you lovely people. I'm still looking for your reviews on what you like what you don't like, and any suggestions you want to give, I'm more than happy to give it a try. (: Now… If I can get at least five reviews by tomorrow night, then I will put up two new chapters for you guys. So review! Thank you. **

xxxxxxx

Days had gone by after the incident in the great hall, and life definitely wasn't going easy for Hermione Granger.

People sneered at her in the halls, called her names, pushed her books out of her hands, and sometimes they would ignore her altogether. That didn't hurt as much as the pain that she felt every time Harry and Ron would look at her. They didn't even bother to ask her any questions, they automatically believed all of those lies that were spread about her.

As the days had passed more and more lies were being spread about her, and more pictures were getting showed around the school. Parkinson wasn't making her life a good one, she was making it hell for her.

Hermione was walking in the halls going towards the great hall for dinner on one Friday night, not really paying attention to where she was going.

She didn't notice the three girls that were in front of her and she ran straight into them one of them knocking her to the ground. She let out a frustrated groan before looking up, her eyes narrowing in frustration. "What Parkinson?"

Pansy sneered looking down at Hermione and she let out a laugh. "Hm…. Yes Granger.. That's where your mudblood ass belongs. Kneeling on the ground before me." Her and the two girls on either side of her let out a loud laugh.

People in the halls were passing her, but not one single person stopped to help Hermione. They all just walked by and some of them even sniggered in glee.

She started collecting her books when Pansy reached down and knocked them to the ground again. Hermione let out another groan when she felt two people on either side of her helping her pick up her books. She heard Pansy give out a loud gasp and Hermione turned her head to look on either side of her, her breathing caught in her throat.

Now she knew that she shouldn't be surprised by the two people helping her, because just last week, it was the two of them that decided that they wanted to be her friend.

She felt her lips curve up into a smile, as she looked at Blaise and Malfoy.

They stood up, Malfoy gripping her elbow and pulling her up as well before they both handed her books back to her. "Thank you…" She whispered quietly taking them back from her.

"Drakie! Blaise! What are you two doing helping the mudblood?!" Pansy gave a screech so loud that it made Hermione want to cringe in disgust.

"Give it a rest Pansy… And don't EVER call Hermione that again while I'm around. You got it?" Blaise gave her a dark look before pulling Hermione by her elbow and leading her to the great hall.

Malfoy made to follow, but Pansy grabbed his arm stopping him. "Drakie… What are you doing?"

Malfoy turned his head to look at the girl giving her a dark look before whipping his hand out of her grip. "My name is Draco Parkinson… Or are you too stupid to comprehend that? So I suggest you start calling me by my name. And if I EVER hear you calling her a mudblood again… You will be sorry…" He gave her one last contemptuous look before walking over to where Blaise and Hermione were waiting for him.

Pansy gave a frustrated screech and turned on her heel stomping away, her two friends running along behind her.

xxxxxx

Malfoy walked over to the two that were waiting for him, stopping directly in front of Hermione. "You alright Granger?" He looked at her with one eyebrow raised waiting for her reply.

"Yes thank you." She bit her lip. "I owe you both."

Blaise looked at her with a smile on his face. "Don't worry about it Hermione. We're happy to help."

Hermione smiled up at him again, showing off her perfectly white teeth.

"Come on you two… Let's go eat." Draco rolled his eyes and the three of them walked into the great hall. As soon as they walked in, all talking stopped every single eye trained on the three of them.

Draco looked down at Hermione and noticed that her eyes were trained on the Gryffindor table, he followed her line of vision and noticed all of the angry stares that they were all giving her.

"Maybe I'll just skip out on dinner tonight. They clearly don't want me at their table." Hermione mumbled and started to turn around trying to make her way back out of the double doors.

"Oh no you don't," Blaise said as he grabbed her arm and turning her back around.

"Well where do you suggest I sit? They don't want me there if you can't clearly tell…" She bit down on her lip and Draco looked at her again and without thinking he said, "You'll sit with us." Hermione looked at him with wide eyes and Blaise let out a big smile.

"Yeah! You could sit with us Hermione! That's a good idea Draco!"

"Um… Excuse me… but are you two daft? I can't sit at the Slytherin table! They hate me just as much as the Gryffindors do now!" She said with an exasperated sigh.

"Oh yea," Blaise said with a contemplated look on his face.

Draco sighed and rolled his eyes looking over at the two before grabbing Hermione's hand and pulling her towards the Ravenclaw table. "Then we'll sit at this table. It's not against the rules."

"Okay…" She followed him to the Ravenclaw table before sitting down across from him and Blaise.

"Hello Hermione," Said a dreamy voice to her left. She looked over at the person that had spoken to her with wide eyes.

"Luna! I didn't even realize that you were sitting here… Wait… You just said hello to me, aren't you going to shun me like everyone else is?" She looked at the younger girl with wide eyes.

Luna gave Hermione a smile and shook her head. "Of course I'm not silly. I don't believe that you want attention or anything. And although I have seen the scars on your arms, I'm not going to push you for answers. You'll tell when you're ready."

Hermione looked at Luna again this time giving her a big hug. "Thank you Luna, you don't know how much that means to me." She gave Luna another squeeze before pulling away.

"By the way Hermione, I didn't know that you were friends with Draco and Blaise…. I've always thought that Blaise was kind of cute you know?" She spoke and acted like he wasn't even there before hearing a choking sound coming from right in front of her.

"Blaise are you okay?" Luna asked him, like saying that someone was cute was something that she did every day.

"Y-yeah… Just… eggs." He wheezed out and Luna looked at him before shrugging and turning back to her food.

Hermione and Draco started laughing at the blush that made its way onto his face, before Hermione started picking at her food and taking little bites.

_Granger looks cute when she laughs and smiles. She should do it more often._ Draco gave a horrified gasp when he realized where his thoughts were leading him and he shook his head getting rid of such thoughts.

"Are you okay Draco… Now your face is turning as red as a tomato…" Blaise laughed and so did Hermione and Luna and Draco scowled at them.

"Oh shut up… The lot of you…"

xxxxxxx

A couple of days went by when Dumbledore had informed the two heads that they were in charge of putting together the Halloween masquerade ball and that the two of them were to accompany each other and do the opening dance.

They had both taken their jobs seriously and when October 31st rolled around they had finally finished everything before that night.

Luna was up in Hermione's room with her getting ready for the dance. Blaise had decided to as Luna which made Hermione very happy seeing as they had both become her really good friends.

Luna had finished getting ready and she turned around to face Hermione. "Well.. How do I look?"

Hermione turned around her eyes nearly popping out of her head. "Luna! You look gorgeous!"

Luna was wearing a floor length silver dress, with white lace running along the bottom with little jewels lining the sides of it. Her mask was a pearl white with soft feathers making a crown around her head.

Hermione had finally finished getting ready and she turned slightly looked at Luna. "Well… What do you think Luna?"

Luna gave her a smile and leaned over to give her a hug. "Oh Hermione…. Draco's not going to be able to take his eyes off of you." Hermione blushed a scarlet color and smiled slightly. "Thank you."

Hermione was wearing a periwinkle blue dress that was forming the shape of a ball gown. She had ribbons flowing through it, along with lace, her neck line plunging slightly with studs at the top of it.

"Alright… Let's go down and greet the boys." Luna gave a giggle and walked down the stairs with Hermione following closely behind. They both reached the floor looking at their dates, who had their mouths open and looking dashing in their tuxedos.

"Close your mouths boys, you'll catch flies." Hermione let out a laugh and walked up to Draco looking up at him. "You look great Granger. You too Luna."

"Thanks Malfoy." She said.

"Well… Let's get going." Draco held out his arm and Hermione hooked her hand through it, before both couples walked out of the dorm and down to the great hall.

They saw everyone there dancing and having a good time before Dumbledore stood up and made the announcement.

"First of all… I would like to give a big thanks to the Head boy and Head girl for putting together this spectacular evening and I would like to invite them to the center if they please."

Hermione gulped nervously before letting Draco lead her towards the dance floor. She noticed the looks that everyone was giving her and she ducked her head slightly.

Turning around, she faced Draco with apprehension in her eyes while he put one hand on her waist and the other hand gripping hers. He leaned down so that he could whisper in her ear. "It's okay, relax Hermione."

She looked up at him slightly shocked just as the music started and they started to dance around the room.

"That's the first time that you called me Hermione." She mumbled and looked up at him. "Well.. That is your name isn't it?" He gave her a small smile before she blushed slightly looking down.

"You look pretty when you blush." He said to her, and she could feel her face heating up. He gave a small laugh before she looked up at him smiling.

"Thank you you know… For everything. It means a lot to me." She gave him another smile and leaned up pecking him on the cheek.

They didn't realize that the music had stopped before they stopped too looking around. Everyone was staring at them and she felt her face head up.

Draco leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Do you want to give them something to stare and talk about?"

Hermione looked up at him with a questioning look on her face and before she could open her mouth to reply she felt his lips on her.

She let out a soft gasp her eyes locked on Draco's closed ones before she too closed her eyes. She didn't realize how soft his lips were until they were moving against hers.

She vaguely heard everyone whispering and she heard her names a couple of times, but at that moment she didn't care.

The only thing that she was concentrating on was this boys lips locked onto hers, and at that moment she could barely even remember her own name.


	16. Please

Please

**A/N… Wahhh! Sorry it's a little later than I expected. I just had writers block. But now I'm getting down to business! Anyways here's another chapter for you. (: And Happy Late Easter everyone.**

**xxxx**

A couple of days had gone by since that night in the great hall, when the whole of Hogwarts saw Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy share a kiss, causing the whole school to erupt in an uproar.

The Slytherins were furious and the Gryffindors were seething.

The Hufflepuffs looked shocked, and the Ravenclaws just didn't know what to do.

Hermione was the object of ridicule at the school and everyone seemed to be making things worse for her.

She was just really glad that she had Blaise, Draco and Luna by her side, otherwise she didn't know what she was going to do if she didn't have them around.

She was walking herself to the library when someone walked into her knocking them both to the ground. She looked at the person she bumped into, and she felt her eyes widening, staring into the wide green eyes of Harry.

"H-Harry…" she stammered, looking over at the boy who was now getting to his feet and dusting himself off.

Harry had finally stood up, looking down at Hermione who was still on the floor before gently grabbing her hand and pulling her to her own feet.

Hermione looked shocked for just a second before readjusting her bag on her hip. "Thank you," she whispered quietly. She was about to open her mouth to tell him how much she missed him before he got a hard look on his face, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Don't mention it." And without another word to her, he walked around her, down the hall, and then disappeared around the corner, not even bothering to look back.

She looked after her former best friend with sad eyes before giving aher arm small sight and walking towards her common room, her eyes trained on the tiled floor.

Stepping inside of it she walked over to the couch before pointing her want at the fire place and warming their common room up. She grabbed a book out of her book shelf because she was going to attempt to read and she walked slowly over to the couch.

She sat down on the couch, and tried reading, but she just couldn't focus, so she set it on the coffee table in front of her. She brought her knees up to her chest while looking into the fire.

She bit down on her lip and looked down at her covered arms. She rolled up her sleeve and she looked at how ugly her arm was. Scars covered every inch of her arm, running up, down and across.

She felt tears sliding down her face, with the grief that she felt. Her dad took everything from her and now she had nothing.

She was too caught up in her grief to notice two Slytherins and a Ravenclaw walk through the portrait hole, stopping to look at her with sad eyes.

She didn't notice one Slytherin in particular, with platinum blonde hair walk up to her and get on his knees in front of her.

What she did notice however, was a hand stopping under her eyes and a finger gently wipe away her tears.

She let out a small gasp and turned her head towards the person who wiped her tears away. She looked into silver orbs and she realized that she was staring into Draco's eyes.

She turned her head to the side of her, as her eyes came to a stop, resting on Luna and Blaise. She gave them a small smile and then wiped her eyes clean from the rest of her tears, leaving them slightly puffy.

Draco sat on the couch next to her and Blaise sat on her other side with Luna sitting on the floor in front of her.

Hermione realized that her scars on her arm were showing, and she bit down on her lip as she noticed Draco and Blaise still had a hold on her arms.

She tried moving her arms away but Draco and Blaise wouldn't hear of it.

"They're ugly aren't they? My whole arm is ugly…" she whispered, desperately wishing that they would just leave her alone. But at the same time, she didn't want them to, for fear that she would do something else.

"They're not ugly Hermione…" Luna said looking up at the older, yet somehow smaller girl who was sitting in front of her.

"Yes, we wish that you didn't do that, but your arms aren't ugly." Luna looked up at Hermione and gave her a small smile.

"How can you all sit there so calmly, knowing about all of the things that I've done?" She looked at her lap when she felt someone move next to her and she felt a soft warm hand cup her cheek making her look up at him.

Chocolate eyes stared into silver and she felt a slight blush tinge her cheeks.

"Because Hermione, we care about you. I care about you," Draco looked at the beautiful girl in front of him and he gave her a small smile.

That was all that it took for her. Her eyes welled up with tears and she launched herself at Draco almost knocking him off of the couch with the force of her hug.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." She whispered against his ear as she continued hugging him. She felt him shiver but that's because she just thought that he was cold. She buried her face deeper into his neck, inhaling his sweet scent of pine needles, and lemon, and she already felt herself relaxing against him.

Luna and Blaise looked at each other and smiled before slowly walking out of the room, hand in hand. Before they let the room they took one last look at Hermione and Draco before closing the portrait hole behind them.

Hermione finally broke away from Draco looking around the common room with a confused look on her face. "Where the hell did Blaise and Luna go?"

Draco let out a loud laugh before gently pulling Hermione to sit on his lap. He just really needed to hold her right now and he wanted her to feel same when she was in his arms.

She looked up into his beautifully silky smooth face, and she gave Draco a small smile. She couldn't believe that this incredibly gorgeous guy was having her sit on his lap, and she also couldn't believe that this was the same coldhearted bastard from before who lived to make her life hell. Maybe people could change.

"I believe, Miss Granger, that they left us alone to sort out our feelings." He looked down at the bushy haired witch with another small smile. He looked down at her, and he felt heat start to rise up his white skin.

She looked up at him with a thoughtful expression on her face. _That color looks lovely on him. _She blushed when she realized that she was thinking that and she smiled up at him desperately wanting to just reach up and kiss his perfect soft skin.

"Hmm…. Well… What are we?" She bit down on her lip, her eyes locked onto his grey ones. She really wanted him to say that he wanted to be with her. That he could look past her scars and look passed how broken she was, but she already knew that he didn't care about those things.

"Well… I know that I like you. A lot." He said, his silver eyes boring into her chocolate colored ones.

"I like you too Draco," she breathed out, afraid that speaking too loudly might ruin the moment. She was shocked that he had actually admitted that he liked her, and not that he had, she was afraid that if something did happen between them, that he would turn his back on her the second he didn't like something.

_People can change Hermione, stop being so judgmental._ Her inner voice was right, and she looked up at the boy who was now clouding her thoughts.

Draco looked down at her and she felt his head move closer to hers.

She felt her breathing stop just before his soft lips brushed a slightly against her own lips.

She felt her eyes flutter close and she kissed him back bringing her arms up to encircle around his neck.

They broke apart gasping for breath, their forehead touching. Hermione closed her eyes, enjoying the contact that she kept with Draco before opening them, and looking into his eyes, their foreheads still touching.

"Will you go out with me Hermione?" He looked at her with wide eyes before he felt her lips press against his briefly.

She pulled back and looked at him when Draco notice something that he hadn't seen in a very long time.

That fiery spark that had once been in Hermione's eyes in the previous years was back.

It was very faint, but it was still there none the less, and Draco was happy to see that it was coming back little by little.

He let out a laugh and kissed her back softly before pulling away. "I'll take that as a yes," he grinned down at her.

"Good. You should," she smiled back at him, her heart feeling lighter than it had all year long. She could finally begin healing, and she would get through this, especially with the help of her blonde haired silver eyed boyfriend, and her two friends Blaise and Luna.

xxxxx

**A/N: Yay! Another chapter finished! Tell me what you think everyone! (: **


	17. Friends

**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a couple of days since I've last written. I've just been really sick and now I'm on bed rest so yeah. Thank you guys for the great reviews they really keep me going. (: **

**MacaqueAttack713: I know! It really is sad that this stuff really does happen. And I've honestly been meaning to put Harry in and make him talk to her, I just haven't found a time to do it. Although I think I finally got it. I hope this chapter is to your liking! (: **

**Angstar54: Thank you! And I know. I adore Snape as well. I will definitely try to incorporate him more in the story! (: **

**And now… Here it is! Another chapter for you guys! **

**Chapter 17: Friends?**

**xxxxxxxx**

Weeks had gone by and soon it was Christmas time and a lot of the Hogwarts students were packing up and ready to go home.

Hermione was sitting outside with Draco, her head resting on his shoulder and next to them sat Luna and Blaise who were talking quietly to each other, holding hands and laughing.

All four of the friends decided to stay behind for Christmas break, seeing as none of them really wanted to go home either.

Hermione looked up at Draco with a smile on her face. She couldn't believe that they were finally a couple, she had never felt happier.

The whole school had been in an uproar when the two of them had walked into the great hall hand in hand with each other. Everyone was shooting them death glares, which they continued to ignore.

They had ignored everyone for the most part but she couldn't stop the pain in her chest whenever she looked at Harry or Ron. She desperately wanted to go talk to them. She stood her ground however and she didn't look over at them again for the remainder of breakfast.

Now the two couples were sitting on the grass enjoying the surprisingly nice weather.

"So, what's our plan for the break? Not many people are staying behind. Just us, a couple of Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and a couple of Gryffindors," Blaise paused for a second before moving on, "And Potter and Weasley."

Hermione's head snapped up looking at him, a shocked expression on her face. "Harry and Ron are staying behind?"

Blaise nodded at her and then shrugged. "Yeah, they are." He noticed the sad look on her face and he also noticed how Draco squeezed her hand comfortingly.

He got an idea, his eyes sparking up. "Hey! Why don't we go to Hogsmead? I still need to do my Christmas shopping."

Hermione gave Blaise a smile and nodded her head. "That sounds like fun. What do you think Luna?" She asked looking over that the young girl who had her head on Blaise's lap.

She sat up and gave Hermione a smile. "Oh yes. That sounds lovely. The Humbling Bumdingers say that it's going to be a good day to go shopping."

All three of their heads whipped towards the blonde, their eyes showing amusement.

Blaise let out a barking laugh before burying his face in Luna's hair. "My girlfriend the nut," he mumbled. Luna let out a huff of breath before lightly punching Blaise in the arm before standing up.

"Come on Hermione, let's go." She grabbed Hermione by the arm pulling her up and looping her arm through hers.

"Let's leave the wobbly didigons to eat their faces off." Luna turned back and glared slightly at her boyfriend before pulling Hermione along with her.

"Oi! Bring my girlfriend back Lovegood!" Draco hollered. Her heard Hermione's laugh and groaned. "Now you've done it Blaise. Come on you big oaf let's go after them."

The two got up from their spot on the grass and made their way after their girlfriends towards Hogsmead.

xxxxx

The four made there way around Hogsmead when the snow started to fall.

"Come on. Let's go to the Three Broomsticks," Draco said, grabbing Hermione's hand. He led them to a booth while the boys went to get the drinks.

The girls were talking quietly amongst themselves when the two boys returned.

"Thank you Draco." Hermione said taking the drink from him and sipping on it. He smiled down at her before scooting into the bench next to her and throwing his arm across her shoulder. "Any time love," he mumbled, burying his face in her hair.

The four sat talking for a little while before Hermione remembered that she still had to buy a couple of Christmas presents. She hit her palm to her forehead before exclaiming "You guys! I totally forgot to grab a couple of Christmas presents. I'll meet you back at the school okay?"

"Do you want me to go with you?" Draco asked, not really liking her walking back by herself.

"No, no, don't worry. I'll be fine. I'll meet you back at school." Before anybody could protest, she quickly got up leaned down, kissed Draco lightly on the lips before dashing out of the Three Broomsitcks and into the cold.

The three friends looked after her perplexed before shaking their heads.

"Well," Blaise said, looking at the other two, "I guess we should head back."

Luna got up nodding and took Blaise's hand in hers. "Yes, let's go." With that, the three friends headed out and took the long treck back up to the school.

xxxxxx

Hermione was looking around the shops for presents for her friends. She had been so distracted lately that she completely forgot that Christmas was coming up, and that was the main reason she didn't want them to come with her. She still had to buy their presents.

She walked into a little boutique that was off to the side, searching for Luna's present first. She knew that Luna was a little eccentric so she knew just what to get her. She walked over to the corner and picked up a beautiful pair of earings.

They had tiny little butterflies on them with a small little diamond on each wing. It came with a matching necklace and ring. The necklace was almost covering her chest so it was pretty big and the ring that it came with had a leaf and a butterfly adorning it.

She paid for Luna's and then walked out of the shop in search for Blaise's gift. She had decided to get Blaise a black watch that told you when someone's birthday was, they time, the date and whatever important even was happening.

Satisfied with Blaise's present she shrunk it putting it in her purse next to Luna's.

She then set off in search for Draco's. She bought him a box of his favorite Honeydukes chocolate that had a charm on them to keep them fresh. She then walked into the quidditch shop looking around. She finally found the broomstick servicing kit that she had known he wanted and took it up to the front to pay for it. She shrunk all of the presents to fit inside of her bag as she made her way outside.

She wasn't paying attention to where she was walking when she ran into someone and they sent her plummeting to the ground.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going…" She looked up her face going white as she looked into the green eyes of the boy in front of her.

"H-Harry…"

She quickly got to her feet and looked at him as he got to his own feet.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered, her eyes cast downward. She made to turn around and walk away before she saw the hate in his eyes, when she felt a hand grab her arm.

She looked at the hand, following them up to the green eyes that were looking at her.

"Don't go… I-I want to talk to you…" Harry was looking at her and she could have sworn that she saw a pleading look in his eyes, but it was fleeting.

She nodded her head and he gave what sounded like a sigh of relief.

"Thank you. Can we go to the Three Broomsticks?" He asked her. Before she could answer he grabbed her arm, pulling her gently towards the pub.

They both walked inside before finding a booth to sit at and she looked at him expectantly waiting for him to speak first.

"Look Hermione… I'm…" Harry stopped and let out a sigh, bringing his hand up to ruffled his hair. He took one look at her and opened his mouth again.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry Hermione. I've been a right git. I know you probably won't forgive me, but I'm still terribly sorry for everything that's happened between us."

Harry looked down at his hands fearing what Hermione was thinking, he felt terrible for everything that's happened between them and he just wanted his best friend back.

Hermione looked at Harry with wide eyes, her eyes sparkling with tears.

She then launched herself at Harry giving him a giant hug and burying her face in his neck. "Oh Harry… I forgive you. I forgive you, I missed you so much."

She continued crying quietly into the crook of his neck before finally letting him go. She wiped her eyes and then looked him. "I'm sorry. I've gotten your shirt wet with my tears."

Harry looked at Hermione with a smile on his face.

"So… You and Malfoy huh?" He looked at her with a raised eyebrow noticing the blush that appeared on her face.

"Yes… Me and Draco. I really like him Harry. And he's been there for me for everything."

He nodded his head and smiled at her. "As long as you're happy Mione, then you can be with whoever you want."

"Thank you Harry. I am." She smiled up at the boy giving him the biggest smile she ever had.

They stood there in the Three Broomsticks for another hour or so just talking about anything and everything.

As she sat there talking to her green eyed friend, a feeling of peace come over her. She finally had one of her best friends back and she couldn't be happier.

xxxxxxxx

**A/N: Well… There you have it! (: I hope you like it! Leave a review please! **


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